Rep. Roy demands answers from ERCOT
WASHINGTON—On Tuesday, following last week's statewide energy conservation request, Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) sent a letter to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) raising questions about whether Texans can depend on their electrical grid as the hottest summer months approach.
Full text of the letter is available at the link here and below:
Brad Jones
Interim President and Chief Executive Officer
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
7620 Metro Center Drive
Austin, Texas 78744
Dear Mr. Jones,
I write today regarding the statewide energy conservation request issued by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on June 14, 2021. This request, which came in the wake of widespread power outages that impacted millions of Texans in February, has renewed serious concerns regarding the reliability of Texas' electrical grid.
With the hottest summer months still ahead, the Texans I represent deserve immediate written answers to the following questions:
- Is there enough baseload generation capacity to power Texas sufficiently through the summer, regardless of temperature? If not, why not?
- What is ERCOT doing right now to ensure that Texans do not face additional grid capacity issues this summer, or at any point in the future?
- Most of ERCOT's new generating capacity will be supplied during the summer months when wind generation trends downward. How will this impact future grid reliability during the summer months when wind generation trends downward?
I look forward to timely responses to the above questions.
Sincerely,
Chip Roy
Member of Congress