Delays at ERCOT
An ambitious and expensive overhaul of the Texas wholesale electricity market will be delayed beyond its scheduled Dec. 1 startup date, the operator of the Texas power grid announced Tuesday.
The grid operator, known as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, has not yet determined when it will go forward with the complicated “nodal” system, which has been in the works for several years.
Under nodal, certain wholesale electric costs gets reassigned to specific companies rather than spread out more uniformly across the grid. In theory, the new system will make grid operations more efficient and reduce congestion on power lines.
“Schedule is important, but quality is number one,” ERCOT director Bob Kahn told the organization’s board of directors on Tuesday.
ERCOT blamed delays in software deliveries and other factors. The quasi-government organization said it will work with market participants over the next few weeks to come up with an updated schedule.
The Texas Public Utility Commission, the regulatory agency that oversees ERCOT, earlier set a Jan. 1 opening date for the nodal market. ERCOT won't make that deadline either, and officials said they will work with the PUC to come up with a new schedule.
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