By Tom Kleckner The Public Utility Commission of Texas said it will invite stakeholder comments as it takes a cautious approach to Lubbock Power & Light’s planned integration into the ERCOT grid. “I think this is an incredibly complicated situation. I’m not sure it’s even clear how … we evaluate...

ERCOT’s Technical Advisory Committee canceled its scheduled June 30 meeting but held an email vote to unanimously approve a nodal operating guide revision request removing references to the provision of responsive reserves across DC ties. NOGRR 156 became effective July 1. The operating guides have included the references to responsive...

By Rory D. Sweeney AUSTIN, Texas — To address the Defense Department’s frustrations over Texas’ lack of regulation for siting new generation, the governor’s office is working with ERCOT to require notifying the department of proposed projects that might impact military operations. DeAnn Walker, a senior policy adviser in Gov.

The ERCOT Board of Directors approved extending a reliability-must-run contract with NRG Energy for its Greens Bayou Unit 5 plant in the Houston area. The RMR, ERCOT’s first in five years, will run through June 30, 2018, at which time additional generation and transmission infrastructure is expected to be in...

By Tom Kleckner ERCOT’s Board of Directors last week unanimously approved two transmission projects intended to ease congestion and reliability concerns in South Texas, where proposed LNG plants are expected to increase the region’s load. The Regional Planning Group’s Valley Import Project will add a static VAR compensator at two...

AUSTIN, Texas — The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a plan for a hybrid above/below-ground transmission line in the City of Frisco (Docket No. 44060). The project was notable for the financial commitment the city offered to bury the majority of the line. (See Texas PUC OKs Undergrounding Tx...

By Tom Kleckner ERCOT’s Independent Market Monitor said the market “performed competitively” in 2015, with low natural gas prices helping reduce energy costs and congestion revenue to record lows. Potomac Economics’ annual State of the Market report, filed with ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, said the ISO’s...

By Tom Kleckner ERCOT said Friday it has executed a reliability-must-run (RMR) agreement to keep a 371-MW natural gas-fired generator available through September, with the likelihood of extending the contract through June 2018. NRG Texas Power’s Greens Bayou Unit 5 was to be mothballed June 27. However, it will now...

By Tom Kleckner AUSTIN, Texas — ERCOT members last week voted down the ISO’s attempt to salvage a revision request that would have replaced several ancillary services with four new products. Frazier © RTO Insider The nodal protocol revision request (NPRR), rejected earlier in the month by the Protocol Revision...

By Rory Sweeney AUSTIN, Texas — ERCOT’s Technical Advisory Committee last week continued the debate over who should be responsible for Texas’ largely unused smart meter monitoring  website. The website, which allows authorized parties to access individual consumers’ electricity-usage data, has been operated from its inception by Smart Meter Texas...