Latest news with #HouseBill5066
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PUCT approves plan for the first extra high voltage transmission lines in ERCOT region
Apr. 24—AUSTIN — In a landmark decision, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) on Thursday approved a plan to build the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region's first extra high voltage transmission lines to meet the Permian Basin's rapidly growing power needs. "The PUCT is fully committed to building an ERCOT grid that will serve Texans reliably for decades to come," PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson said in a news release. "Extra high voltage lines are more efficient and strengthen reliability. Because each line can carry more power, fewer lines are necessary to serve the needs of the Permian Basin Region, meaning less disruption to Texas landowners, natural habitats, and landscapes. Our priority now is ensuring utilities execute these projects quickly and at the lowest possible cost to Texas consumers." House Bill 5066, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2023 and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, required the PUCT to approve an electric reliability plan for the Permian Basin region to support the on-going expansion and electrification of Texas' oil and gas industry and the growing electricity needs of West Texas communities. That plan was approved in Oct. 2024. The next step was determining whether to build it out with new, more efficient extra high voltage (765 kilovolts) transmission lines or the standard 345-kilovolt transmission lines currently in use throughout the ERCOT grid. The Permian Basin reliability plan is the first step in a broader effort mandated by the Legislature and Abbott to evaluate transmission and distribution systems across the ERCOT grid and identify where improvements are needed to support the state's rapid growth and ensure long-term electric reliability. The PUCT's approval of the Permian Basin reliability plan follows a full analysis of the costs, equipment supply chains, and project completion timelines of both voltage options. Additionally, the PUCT and ERCOT hosted six workshops to gather input from members of the public, equipment manufacturers, and the transmission service providers (TSP) who will build and operate the new lines. ERCOT and the TSPs estimate the extra high voltage plan could cost 22% more than the lower-voltage alternative; however, it will provide many long-term benefits. Higher voltage lines can carry more power and meet higher levels of demand as the state continues to grow, reduce expensive congestion on existing transmission lines, and could save money in the long-term by avoiding the need to build new transmission lines to catch up to future demand.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A new ERCOT report shows major future demand on power grid. Why experts are skeptical
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new report shows the potential for major pressure on the Texas power grid and for energy shortages in the next few years. However, some energy experts said the numbers could be deceiving, pointing to changes in how the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, forecasts the numbers. This month, ERCOT released its report on Capacity, Demand and Reserves for 2025 to 2029. According to a news release at the time, the report aims to give a 'snapshot' of what resources will be available and the potential demand on the grid over the next five years. As political winds shift, Austin braces for renewable energy impact University of Texas research scientist Joshua Rhodes said supply and demand imbalances in the report initially shocked him, until he dug deeper. 'My initial reaction was to be taken aback a little bit. The report is usually pretty boring as far as reports go,' Rhodes explained. 'Although this one, it looked pretty bad. It looked like we were going to have massive shortfalls in the next couple of years. And it's generally quite different than previous versions of the report we've seen.' Rhodes took the numbers in the report and compared them to past figures, showing demand on the state's power grid could skyrocket from now until 2029 — seven and a half times faster than it has grown in the past. KXAN has reported on how the growing population in Texas could impact the grid, but both Rhodes and ERCOT itself highlighted a recent change in how ERCOT forecasts this data, at the direction of state lawmakers. In 2023, House Bill 5066 was introduced to address concerns about how the current process for building electric transmission may not keep up with demand or allow adequate advanced planning, especially for large projects such as data centers for artificial intelligence and cloud storage services or cryptocurrency mining operations. Because of the legislation, ERCOT now considers what's known as 'unsigned load' in the forecast. According to ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas, this means the forecast 'comes directly from the transmission and distribution utilities that are talking with customers.' Rhodes described it by saying, 'Basically, everybody who's thinking about, or roughly thinking about, connecting in a certain area — they would go to utility, and they would talk about what it looks like to get a certain amount of power at a certain location.' He went on to say, 'Before, we wouldn't really count those loads until you know they had gotten further in the process, put some skin in the game, put some money down. But now we're kind of counting everybody, and in this new world — in this race of AI — it's a lot of people who might want to get power, and it's driving up the numbers much faster than they have in the past.' While Rhodes acknowledged that calculating the numbers this way can help the state be more proactive in building out infrastructure, he said the change makes it hard for policy makers and researchers to 'make heads or tails' of what's going on now, to make recommendations. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
