Already discussed on this thread...
Texas leadership is committed to making sure their O&G buddies make as much money as possible. More money they make, the more money they can buy off, I mean contribute to the Representatives' re-election campaigns.
https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-08-30/gas-and-coal-outages-behind-ercots-constant-calls-for-conservation/
Solar power has been helping ERCOT avoid rolling blackouts, but thermal energy (gas, coal, and nuclear) has been lacking and was behind the call for conservation Tuesday night. On Aug. 29, thermal outages were beyond what ERCOT defines as “extreme,” at 4+ GW above the 30-day average, energy researchers pointed out – about 120% more generation offline than ERCOT defines as typical. So far, ERCOT has not explained why thermal generation dropped so significantly on Tuesday.
To make up for these outages and reduce demand, advocates have been pushing energy efficiency programs. Though the Public Utility Commission (PUC) received recommendations for improving efficiency from the Energy Efficiency Implementation Project earlier this year, they have yet to implement them. Advocates also wonder why there is no demand response program – or why we aren’t getting paid for the voluntary conservation we’re doing. ERCOT already pays bitcoin miners and other major manufacturers that use a lot of energy for their conservation, but the only way for Austin residents to get compensation is to enroll in Austin Energy’s bill credit program for installing a smart thermostat.
In an even more puzzling move, ERCOT may vote Thursday to drive battery storage out of their ancillary services reserves – the batteries that provide backup power when the grid fails. In his Energy and Power newsletter, energy consultant Doug Lewin says, “ERCOT has made very clear it intends to banish storage resources from this market,” driving up costs for consumers.