ERCOT Anticipates Sufficient Generation For Winter And Spring

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) expects the region will have sufficient electricity to meet expected peak demands this winter.

ERCOT released its final Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) for the upcoming winter season, which focuses on expected reliability scenarios for December 2015 through February 2016. ERCOT also released the preliminary outlook for next spring, based on average springtime weather conditions over the past 13 years.

With more than 79,000 megawatts (MW) of generation resources available, ERCOT expects to have sufficient electricity for the anticipated peak demand of 57,400 MW this winter.

"ERCOT expects to meet system-wide peak demand across a broad range of operating conditions and weather scenarios," said Director of System Planning Warren Lasher. "Current information indicates that there would be sufficient generation available to serve the ERCOT region, even during high-load conditions with extreme generation outages."

ERCOT’s assessment for this winter includes the same peak forecast used for the preliminary winter SARA report released in September. This reflects peak forecast expectations based on customer demand experienced during recent winter season cold-weather events and current expectations for average weather in the upcoming winter season.

Total resource capacity increased by nearly 1,100 MW relative to capacity reported in the preliminary winter SARA. The increase was due to the return to service of units previously in seasonal mothball status, as well as several new resources becoming operational.

In addition to the final winter outlook, ERCOT also released the preliminary SARA for spring 2016. Based on the results of this study, even during extreme conditions, the ERCOT Region is expected to have sufficient installed generating capacity to serve forecasted peak demands in the upcoming spring season (March - May 2016).

Links

Final Winter SARA

Preliminary Spring SARA