Texas PUC's D'Andrea: ERCOT Has Provided Reliability, "Probably The Most Efficient Grid In The World," Saves Texans A Lot Of Money

During a discussion of recent ERCOT grid conditions at today's open meeting, Texas Public Utility Commissioner Arthur D'Andrea, while noting that it was still August, commended ERCOT's recent performance and observed that, "We asked you to run a grid with very tight reserve margins, and you stepped up and you've given us reliability and probably the most efficient grid in the world, that saves Texans a lot of money."

PUC Chairman DeAnn Walker said during the discussion that, in a forthcoming final report from ERCOT concerning recent scarcity conditions, she is interested in seeing information regarding demand response and 4CP in particular

"Between Tuesday [Aug. 13] and Thursday I was seeing things that were very interesting, at least from my office, and I want to see what the data behind that is," Walker said

D'Andrea agreed that demand response "seemed impressive" watching it in real-time.

"On Tuesday, not Thursday," Walker said

D'Andrea also wanted to see data on demand response

The PUC will hold a workshop to review the summer ERCOT performance after the open meeting on October 11

The PUC will hear presentations from ERCOT, the IMM, and other invited stakeholders. The PUC won't ask for stakeholders to suggest questions for discussion, and Commissioners will set the topics to be addressed

Walker also mused that she will be going to NERC in November, "because they're concerned about the reliability of our grid and Bill [Magness, ERCOT CEO] and I are going to go tell them: 'we've got it'"