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Texas PUC Chair Walker Notes Electric Market Moving Towards More Customer-Oriented Ownership, In Discussing Reserve Margin

Says Greater Transparency Needed Into Demand Response, Distributed Generation

December 7, 2018

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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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Discussing the latest ERCOT CDR report at today's open meeting, Texas PUC Chairman DeAnn Walker said that, in light of significant, customer-centric changes in the electric market, ERCOT needs better transparency into the amount of demand response, distributed generation, and self-generation in the system.

Walker said that the ERCOT market is getting to a point where, "we have to have more transparency into those issues."

Walker noted that achieving such transparency is a long-term issue, and that the market won't have answers for these questions for this summer

Walker reiterated her view that the electric market is fundamentally changing to be more customer-driven (see a prior summation of her view that customers are taking more control over their energy usage here)

"I think the electric system is changing, and we're moving to more of a customer-initiated ownership of a lot of things," Walker said at today's meeting, again citing the example of Buc-ee's installing gas-fired DG at its sites, and stating that more customers are engaging in similar strategies

ERCOT was directed to move forward in creating more visibility into such distributed and customer capabilities, with an ERCOT representative stating that ERCOT would communicate greater "urgency" to stakeholders in addressing the issue

Walker said that while the forecast 8.1% summer reserve margin is, "very scary", there's a difference, due to various customer capabilities, that is unknown. Walker doubts that accounting for such capabilities would get to a "comfortable" number, "but it gets us somewhere."

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