AUSTIN, Texas — During the legislative grid reliability committee hearing Tuesday, ERCOT Chief Operating Officer Woody Rickerson shared his concerns about the increased demand on the state’s energy grid.

What You Need To Know

  • ERCOT COO Woody Rickerson said Tuesday that the Texas grid is expected to be "adequate" for a winter storm

  • ERCOT projects a 50% risk of rolling outages this winter if the weather is like previous years and an 80% risk if there are storms similar to the 2021 winter storm 

  • Energy expert Doug Lewin says the state needs to also address gas supply, elevated demand and power plant winterization to prevent outages during cold weather

  • Another severe storm wouldn’t have the same widespread impact as the 2021 winter storm, according to Lewin. But some Texans would still be left in the dark

“I don't have a positive sense that we have enough generation on the books to serve the load that's expected,” he said.

Rickerson's comment addressed a question about data centers requiring more energy. But winter is coming, and household energy demand will increase as temperatures drop.

“We expect the grid to be adequate for a winter storm. However, a severe winter storm that last several days would be the big risk,” Rickerson said in an interview with Spectrum News.

ERCOT projects a 50% risk of rolling outages this winter if the weather is like previous years and an 80% risk if there are storms similar to the winter storm of 2021. ERCOT Chief Meteorologist Chris Coleman expects this season’s storm to come in January or February.

“You can have a warm winter in Texas and have a cold extreme, and that's becoming more frequent. Five of the last eight winters, we've had temperatures that met those thresholds,” Coleman said.

ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas expressed confidence, telling board members the state is prepared for the expected weather.

“When you think about it, since March of this year, we've seen more than 10,000 megawatts of new generation added. About half of that is solar,” Vegas said.

Increasing renewable energy sources is just one part of what’s needed to improve grid reliability. Energy expert Doug Lewin says the state needs to also address gas supply, elevated demand and power plant winterization to prevent outages during cold weather.

“We have not increased energy efficiency in the four years since winter storm Uri, and really gas supply. There has been good progress on power plant winterization,” Lewin said.

Lewin adds that policymakers should address unmet recommendations from the reports that followed the winter storm of 2021. 

“They said ERCOT should have specialists that understand how weather impacts load. There's certain things we haven't done, and they're still not talking about those things, which is very frustrating and puts it at unnecessary risk,” he said.

Another severe storm wouldn’t have the same widespread impact as the 2021 winter storm, according to Lewin. But some Texans would still be left in the dark.