Electric Reliability Council of Texas

Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT)
Type501(c)(4), charitable organization
74-2587416[1]
HeadquartersAustin, Texas
Chief Executive Officer
Pablo Vegas[2]
Bill Flores (interim)
Vice Chair, Board of Directors
Bill Flores
Websiteercot.com
ISOs and RTOs of North America as of 2024

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas's electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection,[3][4] which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load.[5] ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) in the United States.[6] ERCOT works with the Texas Reliability Entity (TRE),[7] one of six regional entities within the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) that coordinate to improve reliability of the bulk power grid.[8]

As the ISO for the region, ERCOT dispatches power on an electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and more than 610 generation units.[9] ERCOT also performs financial settlements for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for 7 million premises in competitive choice areas.[9]

According to an ERCOT report, the major sources of generating capacity in Texas are natural gas (51%), wind (24.8%), coal (13.4%), nuclear (4.9%), solar (3.8%), and hydroelectric or biomass-fired units (1.9%).[10]

ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation,[11][12] and its members include consumers, electric cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities (transmission and distribution providers), and municipally owned electric utilities.[13]

Power demand in the ERCOT region is typically highest in summer, primarily due to air conditioning use in homes and businesses. The ERCOT region's all-time record peak hour occurred on August 20, 2024, when consumer demand hit 85,931 MW.[14] A megawatt of electricity can power about 200 Texas homes during periods of peak demand.[15] By 2022, ERCOT had 2 GW of grid batteries, with another 6 GW underway.[16]

  1. ^ "Electric Reliability Council Of Texas Inc 10 10 90 - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. 2021-02-23. Archived from the original on 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  2. ^ Ferman, Mitchell (16 August 2022). "Pablo Vegas, a utility executive in Ohio, named ERCOT's new CEO". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  3. ^ Katherine Blunt; Russell Gold (19 February 2021). "The Texas Freeze: Why the Power Grid Failed". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Wikidata Q114357264. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  4. ^ "2019 ERCOT County Map". ERCOT. June 27, 2019. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019.
  5. ^ "Quick facts" (PDF). www.ercot.com. 818. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  6. ^ "History of ERCOT". Ercot.com. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  7. ^ "Texas Reliability Entity - About Us". Archived from the original on 2013-03-28. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  8. ^ "NERC". www.nerc.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  9. ^ a b "Quick facts" (PDF). www.ercot.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  10. ^ Nate Chute, What percentage of Texas energy is renewable? Breaking down the state's power sources from gas to wind., Austin American-Statesman (February 19, 2021).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference ERCOT-About was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Chute, Nate. "Is ERCOT a government agency? Answers to 5 questions about the group that operates Texas' power grid". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  13. ^ "Membership". www.ercot.com.
  14. ^ "ERCOT Maximum Load Record". www.gridstatus.io. Archived from the original on 2024-08-22. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  15. ^ Johnson, Brad (16 May 2022). "ERCOT Expects Record Electricity Demand for Summer Heat But Projects Sufficient Generation for Power Grid". The Texan.
  16. ^ Murray, Cameron (18 April 2023). "Is the ERCOT battery storage market going to saturate next year?". Energy Storage News.