NERC Demands ERCOT Address Declining Reserve Margin Levels
POWERnews
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator that oversees 85% of Texas’ electric load, should consider additional potential solutions to address its worrisome resource adequacy and provide a plan outlining measures it will take to increase woefully low reserve margins, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) said in a strongly worded letter last week.
ERCOT in December projected a reserve margin of 13.2% for summer 2013—slightly below ERCOT’s 2010-selected target reserve margin of 13.75%—but it said Texas could see tight power supplies after that. Reserve margins are expected to drop to 10.9% in 2014 and decrease in future years, plunging to 2.8% by 2022.
NERC, an electric reliability organization certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure reliability for North America’s bulk power system, expressed concern about…