ERCOT Expects Sufficient Electricity This Winter and Next Spring

ERCOT expects to have sufficient resources to meet winter and spring electricity demand, it said in a final winter assessment and preliminary spring outlook.

ERCOT expects peak demand this winter to remain below 50,000 MW. Although some generators have announced plans to retire or temporarily shut down units that were included in the preliminary forecast, about 74,000 MW of resources are slated to be available during the winter months.

ERCOT experienced its winter record demand of 57,265 MW on Feb. 10, 2011. Assuming typical generation outages, ERCOT expects to be able to handle that level of demand or higher this winter.

The preliminary outlook for spring 2014 also anticipates sufficient resources, particularly if weather conditions are similar to spring 2013 as expected.

ERCOT expects electric demand next spring will not exceed 57,000 MW, and nearly 73,000 MW of generation capacity is expected to be available.

Beginning with the spring 2014 SARA, ERCOT is adjusting how it measures expected power plant outages, basing its forecast on performance during the past three years rather than the current method that relies on a six-year average.