Two weeks after Democrats in Congress introduced a bill requiring the Texas power grid to connect to the national grids, CEO Pablo Vegas of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said such discussions need to consider if more outside connections is the most economically worthwhile way to keep the lights on.
“We’re not debating that there could be reliability or resiliency benefits by having interconnections. The question is, is it the best way to spend the dollars?” Vegas said Tuesday at ERCOT’s board of directors meeting.
The alternative is to invest in additional in-state transmission lines that deliver electricity across long distances, as well as in other resources, he said.
ERCOT operates the power grid that delivers electricity across 90% of Texas; its job is to ensure supply and demand are always balanced. In February 2021, it initiated blackouts that left millions without power for days during freezing temperatures as it sought to prevent demand from overtaking supply, narrowly averting a total blackout that could have left parts of Texas in the dark for weeks.
Texas is unique in largely having its own power grid with limited connections to the other large U.S. systems. That leaves the state with little ability to import power in times of scarcity on the grid. During the 2021 freeze, each additional gigawatt of transmission ties between ERCOT and the Southeastern U.S. could’ve saved nearly $1 billion while keeping the heat on for hundreds of thousands for Texans, according to a 2021 study by Grid Strategies, a consulting firm.
Politicians and energy companies in Texas have long opposed more substantial connection to other grids for fear it would bring increased federal regulation. The newly proposed bill, introduced by Reps. Greg Casar, D-Austin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, seeks to bring the ERCOT grid under federal oversight.
A direct current line that would connect ERCOT to grids in the Southeast is in the works, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which regulates ERCOT, is surveying the power industry on possibly building more.
Vegas, for his part, seemed skeptical. Building more DC ties, already costly on its own, would also require building significant additional transmission infrastructure, he said. By opening up the ERCOT electricity market to other states, Texans could benefit when the price of electricity imports is low, but prices within ERCOT might rise when the price of imports is high, he said.
Because extreme weather events such as heat waves and cold snaps are not constrained by state lines, other grids may not be able to export much power to Texas when the ERCOT needs it most, Vegas said.
“If it’s not available during those periods of time, is the investment worth it for the limited amount of time that it actually is available to transfer power?” he said.
Vegas also hit on a major area of focus for state officials who have proposed initiatives to encourage development of more natural gas power plants, suggesting DC ties could be counterintuitive to their efforts.
“DC ties could have the effect of chilling new generation investment inside of the ERCOT region,” because developers could locate elsewhere and still sell their power to Texas, he said.