Texas Faces a 'Tight' Summer, as Electric Reserve Margins Shrink

SUGAR LAND--March 5, 2018--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Keeping the lights on in Texas this summer will be no gimmie. The Lone Star State lost about 4,273 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity earlier this year when five coal-fired units at three plants were retired. Another 2,927 MW of planned generation will not be available as expected this summer, mostly due to delays in power plant construction. The state's growing economy is expected to add about 1,600 MW of new electric demand to reach a new record, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) (Austin, Texas) told reporters in a conference call on March 1. Offsetting these factors is the 3,800 MW of new generation that came online last year, Pete Warnken, ERCOT's manager of resource adequacy, said on the call.

Within this article: Details of ERCOT's plans and abilities to keep the lights on for Texans this summer