A committee comprising Texas regulators, ERCOT staff and state emergency management officials has completed the first map of the state’s critical infrastructure for use during disasters and emergency preparedness and response.
The map, released Friday, identifies critical infrastructure facilities that make up the state’s electricity supply chain, including generation plants and the natural gas facilities that supply fuel to power the plants. State emergency management officials will use the map during weather emergencies and disasters to pinpoint the location of critical electric and natural gas facilities and emergency contact information for those facilities.
It is a result of last February’s winter storm, when natural gas and other fuel supply issues exacerbated ERCOT’s inability to quickly meet massive demand with reduced supply. In the wake of the storm, Texas lawmakers passed legislation requiring the map’s creation. The law prohibits its public release and its corresponding data for security reasons.
Thomas Gleeson, the Public Utility Commission’s executive director and the mapping committee’s chair, said the map will save lives in Texas.
“Our agencies have collected an enormous amount of critical information in one place, available to state emergency officials with a click of a mouse. That means better coordinated preparedness before a disaster and faster response times in an emergency, to protect the Texas grid,” he said.
The map has more than 65,000 facilities, including generation plants powered by natural gas, electric substations, natural gas processing plants, underground gas storage facilities, oil and gas well leases, and saltwater disposal wells. The map also includes more than 21,000 miles of gas transmission pipelines and about 60,000 miles of transmission lines.
It is a product of months of work by representatives from the PUC, the Railroad Commission (RRC), ERCOT and the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The committee plans to hold a public meeting May 31 that will be livestreamed.
The map’s release also starts a six-month statutory clock for the RRC, which regulates the state’s natural gas industry, to adopt a weatherization standard for the listed gas infrastructure.
“All the layers of facilities on the map will help the state’s planning and response to fix problems real time and prioritize electricity service during emergencies,” RRC Executive Director Wei Wang said.
