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The market redesign is the latest of several efforts by Texas
regulators to ensure reliability of electricity supply after a
February 2021 deep freeze that killed more than 200 people and left
around 4.5 million Texas homes and businesses without power and
heat.
The unanimous vote by the five-member commission proposed requiring
electricity retailers to pay power plants to be ready to come online
during grid emergencies, encouraging the construction of new
generation resources.
The commission also directed the grid operator, Electric Reliability
Council of Texas (ERCOT), to "develop bridging options to retain
existing power plants and build new generation resources until the
PCM can be fully implemented."
The reform, called the Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM), fulfils
the requirements of a 2021 grid weatherization law for on-demand
generation to be available during periods of high demand, but it
will not be implemented before a review by the state legislature,
the commission said.
However, one of the sponsors of that law, Senator Charles Schwertner,
in a statement called the PCM "an unnecessarily complex,
capacity-style design that puts the competitive market at risk
without guaranteeing the delivery of new dispatchable generation."
"Concerns remain regarding shifting risk away from generators and
toward consumers," said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and
Gas Association, calling for generators to be "paid for real time
performance."
Earlier this week, the Dallas Federal Reserve said that the Texas
electrical grid, which avoided rolling blackouts during severe cold
weather last month, is still vulnerable to severe weather despite
safeguards following the February 2021 freeze.
(Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
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