Who is ERCOT?

What Functions Does ERCOT Perform?

A key responsibility of ERCOT is power dispatch: scheduling and managing how electricity will flow through the network. The process is carried out on a daily basis, subject to the operating constraints of generation systems and individual power lines.

• If the capacity of any system component is exceeded, a fault can occur, potentially leading to a massive blackout.
• The Texan summer is the most challenging time of the year, since grid demand reaches its highest point due to air conditioning loads.

Power dispatch is much more complex than it seems. To visualize the technical complexity, assume all the consumers connected to a power grid need 1 million kilowatt-hours per day.

• Simply producing 1 million kWh and injecting them into the grid is not enough to guarantee a reliable supply. Energy must be provided exactly where it is needed, and at the correct time of the day.
• The process must be carried out subject to the physical limitations of power lines, transformers and other grid equipment.
• There are situations that demand a very fast response. For example, this can happen during summer if many large buildings activate their air conditioning systems at once

Other Responsibilities of ERCOT

ERCOT is also responsible for planning new power plant additions and ensuring that the mix of generation technologies is suitable for Texas – effective power dispatch is only possible with the right combination of generation systems.

For example, you can’t rely on solar farms to provide electricity at night, and you can’t power a city with wind turbines on a day with calm weather. Natural gas turbines and hydroelectric units are normally used when a lot of power is needed in a short time, since both systems are capable of a very fast response. Recently, batteries have emerged as a viable solution to manage sudden changes in generation and demand.

Managing the Wholesale Electricity Market and Customer Choice

In addition to ensuring power delivery, ERCOT operates the electricity market in Texas, performing financial settlements for sellers and buyers. It would be impossible to track every single kilowatt-hour injected to the grid, but total inputs and outputs can be measured and balanced. Although the actual process is very complex, it can be summarized as follows:

Electricity Consumption = Electricity Supplied – Total Losses in the Power Network

ERCOT is also the organization in charge of managing the process when you switch electricity providers in Texas, making sure your data is delivered correctly to your new power company after the switching procedure.

As previously mentioned, it would be impractical to have a separate power network for every retailer, so provider switching is carried out digitally and not physically. This is possible thanks to the smart meters that have been installed throughout Texas, and the process is comparable to changing the mobile network operator for your smartphone.