SAN ANTONIO — The message from the state is the same one Texans have heard since most of the state went dark in February of 2021.
“Absolutely expect the lights to stay on,” said Peter Lake, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). “We’ve kept the lights on in the summer immediately following Uri. We kept the lights on last winter in the face of several winter blasts and most importantly this summer we kept the lights on in a record-setting summer, the hottest summer in Texas in recent memory, if not ever.”
The PUCT and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator, hosted a joint news conference Tuesday to talk about the 2022-2023 winter outlook. Both agencies said reforms including weatherizing power plants, doing more inspections, and better communication between agencies are working, despite the cold snaps of last winter and intense heat this summer.
“In the past 18 months, because we’ve had these reforms in place, we have avoided emergency conditions or blackouts eight times,” Lake said. “We know the reforms are working. We’ve seen the results and we are going to continue with these reforms. Going into this winter we’re even better prepared. We’ve put in even stricter weatherization standards.”
Yet, a state report, ERCOT’s Winter Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy shows for a second year in a row Texas could see blackouts this winter like we did in February 2021, but only in an extreme case. The probability is low, but people need to prepare.
“There is a scenario under the most extreme conditions there could be not enough power. That’s not acceptable. That is why change is needed in the market design to address it,” said Pablo Vegas, ERCOT’s CEO.
The PUCT and ERCOT both point to population growth as a challenge to create enough energy for all Texans in any season.
“That is a result of the incredible growth that Texas is experiencing,” Lake said. “Texas is adding a city the size of Corpus Christi every single year in population.”
ERCOT is currently exploring options to better strengthen the grid so the lights always stay on no matter the weather. Until then, expect energy conservation alerts could be issued this winter, if needed.
“We will always use every tool available including calls for conservation,” Lake said.
In San Antonio, CPS Energy is taking two actions ahead of winter It is weatherizing its natural gas system so those customers can continue to have heat. Plus it is working on its communication plan if there are outages. The best thing you can do to make sure you get a message about an outage is to update your information with CPS Energy so you can be contacted. Update your information either by calling CPS Energy customer service at 210-353-2222 or go to “manage my account” on the CPS Energy website.
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