NBC DFW: ERCOT CEO Worries $150 “Easy Out” for Gas Companies Could Threaten Grid
Nov. 18 — In an interview with NBC 5 Investigates, ERCOT interim CEO Brad Jones said he is concerned that the plan could cause fuel supply issues for power plants that run on natural gas. But Jones said he is still but hopeful the Railroad Commission, will, “make the right choice” and not give gas companies an “easy out.”
See the report.
Reuters: Texas electric grid still not ready for extreme winter weather, according to NERC
Nov. 18 — The assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC), a nonprofit regulatory authority, comes as Texas lawmakers and regulators continue to investigate ways to bolster the grid to avert a repeat of last winter’s blackouts, which left 4.5 million customers without power in a deep freeze that killed more than 200 people.
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Natural Gas Intelligence: Natural Gas Issues Blamed for Lion’s Share of Winter Uri Outages, Say Federal Regulators
Nov. 18 — In an extensive 313-page report, federal regulators have concluded that natural gas-fired generators made up 58% of all unplanned outages, derates or failures to start during the deadly cold weather event in February.
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Power Magazine: $2.6 Billion Committed to New Solar Projects in Texas, California
Nov. 18 — A company that invests in clean energy projects to serve customers interested in low-carbon sources of electricity announced it has closed eight separate deals, representing a total of $2.6 billion in financing commitments for construction and operation of six late-stage solar energy projects with 2.2 GW of generation capacity in California and Texas.
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KCEN: Public Utility Commission entertains new program to improve grid reliability
Nov. 18 — The PUC has stated it needs to overhaul the ERCOT power market to make the grid more reliable. A commission introduced new ideas on Thursday.
Watch the report.
KXAN: Texas gas bills may increase, companies allowed to make up $3.4B winter storm losses
Nov. 18 — In a statement, an RRC spokesperson said these increases will assist in paying off expenses gas providers took on last February to produce “the necessary supply of natural gas to maintain service.”
Watch the report.
KPRC TV: Consumers should expect gas bills to increase as providers recoup $3.4B loss due to freeze
Nov. 19 — The bitter cold weather from February is hard to forget. Many residents in Greater Houston lost power and heat. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, University of Houston’s chief energy officer, has studied and analyzed the supply and demand of energy from that period.
Watch the report.
KUT: As power plants winterize in Texas, gas producers get a pass
Nov. 18 — Many grid analysts, engineers and power plant operators pushed back. The version of events pushed by Commissioner Craddick and the oil and gas industry was simply untrue, they said. But her version appears to have shaped the laws legislators passed in response to the blackout. Under those policies, power plants must winterize, while gas producers and transporters may not.
Hear the segment.
Austin American-Statesman: Federal report points finger at natural gas sector in February power outages
Nov. 18 — Failures by the natural gas sector — from producers at wellheads all the way up the supply chain to gas-fired generation plants — are to blame for the bulk of the power outages that left much of Texas without electricity for extended periods during February’s deadly winter freeze, according to federal energy officials.
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Power Engineering: Project generating zero-emission electricity from natural gas achieves grid sync in Texas
Nov. 17 — A test facility in Texas generating zero-emission electricity from natural gas delivered electricity onto a power grid Monday in a global first for the technology.
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Power Engineering: Texas lands $1 billion investment in solar and battery projects
Nov. 16 — Two facilities with a combined capacity of 400 MW/800 MWh of battery storage and 600 MW of solar power generation will be built in Caldwell County beginning in Spring 2022. The first facility — constructed on 3,511 acres near Uhland — is expected to be operational in 2023.
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KHOU: ‘They are energy hogs’: Bitcoin mining surge stirs power grid concerns in Texas
Nov. 15 — “ERCOT is monitoring cryptomining developments and evaluating the potential impacts on the grid,” an ERCOT spokesperson said. “It is fair to say that these crypto loads can have impacts just like any large load.”
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Texas Public Radio: Top Texas oil and gas regulators face allegations of conflicts of interest, as they can profit from the industries they oversee
Nov. 15 — A series of new reports alleges that commissioners’ close ties to and investments in the industry they are charged with regulating creates conflicts of interest, and the agency’s policies don’t do enough to prevent such “regulatory capture.”