ERCOT says it leaned on Texas’ 15 mobile generating units and an RMR unit during the state’s first major cold-weather event since 2021’s disastrous Winter Storm Uri.

With a major winter storm bearing down on Texas, officials have assured the state that the ERCOT grid is in much better shape to take on freezing conditions than it was five years ago during Winter Storm Uri.

ERCOT says there is “broad agreement” from stakeholders that the grid operator’s batch-based approach for interconnecting large loads is necessary.

Having finally added real-time co-optimization to the market like every other U.S. grid operator with an effort that began in 2019, ERCOT can turn its attention to other pressing issues.

ERCOT proposed revisions to its large load interconnection process just days after a new rule established more rigorous criteria for connecting data centers, bitcoin miners and other power-hungry facilities to the grid.

The Texas Public Utility Commission has put out a proposed rule for public comment that would establish the fourth and final program under the Texas Energy Fund, a $1.8 billion backup power program.

Texas regulators have approved two more applications under the Texas Energy Fund’s completion-bonus program, making the generation resources eligible for more than $100 million in grants.

ERCOT’s Board of Directors has approved staff’s proposed 765-kV Eastern Backbone project and its $9.4 billion capital cost price tag, making it the most expensive project in the grid operator’s history.

The Texas Public Utility Commission signed a sixth loan agreement through the Texas Energy Fund’s in-ERCOT loan program, up to $370 million for a new 455-MW gas-fired plant in the Houston area.

ERCOT staff told Texas regulators they plan to file two urgent protocol changes with the Board of Directors in their latest push to design a new ancillary service that further strengthens the grid’s resource adequacy.