Officials with the Electric Reliability Council Of Texas say the state's power grid is in a better position to withstand a severe winter storm than it was last year at this time.
State lawmakers mandated winterization efforts at power plants after wide-spread power outages during the deadly winter storm in February of 2021.
Power plant operators were required to submit reports on their efforts to prepare their facilities to ERCOT in December. Officials say they show generally positive results.
"I'm really pleased with the amount of work that occurred. I'm think the results are better than we expected. I think if we had another Uri-type event we would be in better shape now than we were last year when it occurred," said Woody Rickerson, ERCOT Vice President of System Planning and Weatherization. "I think that's the most positive part of this entire process...is that we've made improvements. It's taken a lot of work from a lot of different places to get there."
A few dozen generators have asked for more time to comply with some of the winterization requirements. Other generators have been granted "good cause" exemptions for not complying. Officials with ERCOT say those facilities account for a small portion of the state's electricity-generating capacity.
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