The Texas Reliability Entity’s primary focus for the rest of the year will be on helping prevent another occurrence similar to ERCOT’s near collapse during the February winter storm, staff told their Board of Directors on Wednesday.

Mark Henry, the organization’s director of reliability services, said three staffers are working closely with NERC and FERC as those agencies investigate ERCOT’s response to the storm. The Texas grid operator, forced to make do without half of its generation because of the storm’s freezing temperatures, called for load shed that lasted for almost a week and resulted in billions of dollars in economic destruction to the state and the market.

Texas RE is waiting to see what the state legislature passes as far as weatherization of power plants and the natural gas system’s infrastructure, both of which have been fingered for most of the generation losses. Staff said they expect to take on more enforcement responsibilities with the final legislation.

Separately, the regional entity has conducted virtual outreach to generation owners on NERC’s pending cold-weather standard, a result of the January 2018 cold snap that primarily affected MISO South. (See FERC, NERC to Probe January Outages in MISO South.)

The NERC project requires generation owners to develop and implement cold-weather preparedness plans for its units and includes notification provisions through “documented data specifications of generating unit status” during forecasted cold weather.

Joseph Younger, director of enforcement, reliability standards and registration, said Texas RE’s focus has been on “measurable standards” for freeze-protection measures and technologies. Staff also provided comments on clarifying implementation timelines and training requirements, he said.

The comment period ends May 28, with the final standards to be presented to NERC’s Board of Trustees in June. The standards will become effective 18 months from the first calendar quarter’s date following adoption. That would be as early as year-end 2022.

“We’re still trying to figure out how things work in the winter, but we do a better job of navigating the summer,” Texas RE CEO Jim Albright said. NERC’s draft 2021 summer reliability assessment warns that Texas faces a risk of energy shortfalls, echoing similar warnings in recent years. (See related story, FERC Summer Assessment Spotlights Western Drought Risks.)

Albright also addressed the recent hack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline, saying it serves as a warning to all. (See Experts Call for Cyber Shift in Response to Colonial Hack.)

“It does give us a perfect example of why we’ve got to work together as an industry and partner with regulators to ensure we have a secure and reliable grid,” he said. “This shows exactly what could happen to us.”

Texas RE has also completed its certification of Lubbock Power & Light as a transmission operator in advance of the utility’s load migrating from SPP to ERCOT over Memorial Day weekend. Staff issued more than 250 requests for information in completing the work.

Board OKs 20% Budget Increase

The board unanimously approved a 20% increase in Texas RE’s budget and business plan for 2022. The increase, from $14.2 million to $17.2 million, covers additional staff and relocation costs for new office space next April. (See Texas RE Asks for 20% Budget Increase.)

Texas RE’s annual expenditures are still below the average of other NERC REs.

The board also approved a nominating committee comprising independent Directors Suzanne Spaulding and Crystal Ashby and CPS Energy’s Curt Brockmann, and an audit with no reported findings of 2020’s financial statements.

NERC Trustees Rob Manning and Susan Kelly and new Texas Public Utility Commission Chair Peter Lake attended the virtual meeting.