The big man overseeing Texas' power grid came to Dallas on Friday with assurances about current supply and plans for future demand.
Pablo Vegas, CEO of the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, said during an Energy Forum luncheon about the size of Texas' electricity requirements.
“We use more energy on our peak day than California and New York use on peak days combined. So, we are massive energy consumers,” Viegas said.
Unlike the deadly winter freeze in 2021, when rolling power outages kept large areas without power for days, this year's cold snap left some snow on the ground but did not cause power outages.
Vegas said customers' actions on environmental calls have helped keep demand below supply.
But winter is not over yet, and the hot days of summer will come that will test the power grid.
“We are doing everything we can here in Texas to stimulate the energy growth we need to serve everyone every day. We are starting to see some real payback from the investments and changes the Legislature has made recently,” Viegas said.
It was a room full of energy executives listening to Vegas on Friday at an event sponsored by the law firm Jackson Walker and the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber is concerned about preparing for future growth.
“Demographers predict we will surpass Chicago and become the third-largest metropolitan statistical area in the country by 2030. And that's just a few years away. It's astounding,” North Dallas Chamber CEO Ken Malcolmson said.
The surge in renewable energy sources is being credited with helping meet current energy demand in Texas, including solar and wind power from giant turbines.
But these sources tend to be far from population centers where demand for electricity is higher.
More power lines are needed to move the power.
Viegas explained the history of the Texas grid, which isolated the state from surrounding power grids.
“Actually, we're an electric island,” Vegas said.
Surrounding states have energy resources as well, but are far from Texas' population centers.
“Connecting Texas out of state could be another way to do it, but historically that hasn't been a cost-effective way to do it. You can actually get better reliability at a lower cost to Texans when you build inland,” Viegas said.
So more lines to more sources in Texas is a plan to meet growing demand, along with improved battery storage that could help fill in the gaps when solar and wind power are weak.
Pablo Vegas joined ERCOT as CEO in 2022 as part of a wave of reporting after 2021's deadly winter power outages.
