Legislative Blog
J.B. Williams, J.D.
Outage alerts
A Blog about Power Systems
A Bit of Background
The following backgrounds help summarize the author's views on both the general topic: Texas and more specifically Power Systems as it relates to that topic.
Brief Summary of Texas
Texas is truly a Republic. There are a multitude of items that to modify the state constitution must be modified. So there are times when Constitutional amendments are on the voting ballots. While I sometimes abhor the wording, the concept that all of those legally able to vote in Texas must vote on the change is a good one. And bills in Texas are generally short, making it easier for everyone to understand.
Summary of Power Systems
Everyone thinks of Texas as just oil and gas. They do a lot of "green energy" actually. But then again "green energy" products rely heavily upon oil and gas to be manufactured. So maybe Texas is mostly oil and gas just not all of it direct.
Blog Summary
HB3. Was introduced on 3/12/2021. Passed the House on 5/24/2021. Passed the Senate on 3/29/2021. Became law on 9/21/2021.
pA system for how to determine when alerts need to be made and how to get those out to customers was established. They also established a council to ensure critical infrastructure was addressing human needs. Perhaps that will prevent us from further going down the path to solar and wind in quantities to large to ensure necessary power during storms. I've heard the claim they performed at rates higher than predicted. But my understanding was that wind farms and solar were predicted to provide negligible power if any. That doesn't equate to the claims of they swooped in and saved the day. Nor is winterizing a bunch of wind farms financially a wise decision. Texas, in 30 years, has not had another winter of 5 days below freezing. So spending large sums to ensure something works once every 30 years doesn't sound like a good financial decision. Not to mention wind turbines are only anticipated to last 20 or 25 years at the most. So you could potential spend excess funds for something that is never even needed. A better solution is turning up gas output prior to storm onset, and customers minimize their usage as much as possible. It's okay to need to cover up with a coat or blanket to ensure that the power remains on for everyone.
They have also decided to cap fees during emergencies. I suspect that will be market rates will never drop as low as they did in the past. And doesn't warrant locking in a set rate so you are not stuck with a significantly higher rate during an emergency. This really protects those that took advantage of low market rates during the year and then were upset when their market rates rose during the emergency. I get it, I don't want a $1,000 electric bill either. That is exactly why I choose to ensure I had a locked rate. If the individuals that had low market rates were not required to pay the higher rates during the storm, then all of the rest of us will pay those fees over time on their behalf. And I suspect that rates will increase because of this in general.
Outage alerts
Published: 2021-11-04
Chapter 411, Government Code is modified
Power Outage Alert
They have established an administrator for power outage alerts. This would be activated by several already existing entities finding that there may not be sufficient power to meet demand. I'm really not sure this is necessary. I would have thought that Oncor and other entities were already suppose to be doing this. I know prior to the February 2021 storm I saw alerts of possible outages due to excess demand. Granted some lasted significantly lower or happened more frequently than it was thought. I was without power for 18 of 24 hours, then 16 of 24. Then things began to improved with a near equal 12 on 12 off, but in varying times. By late in the week, I was having power on for 15 minutes every hour and off for 45 minutes. Seriously not the best, and we used every blanket and quilt we owned to either cover the floor for our dogs, entry to block off part of the house, or cover up with. However in the 30 years I have resided here, that is the first time we've been without power for any extended period of time.
I do believe that the state and the Public Utility Commission learned something during that time. I honestly don't watch broadcast television or listen to public radio. I know I am not alone in this. So notifying the general public via radio and television is not going to reach everyone. Running posts on FB or on city's websites would also be useful. I am grateful that my city will post when someone is made aware of a situation. (Like the gas smell issue that happened recently.) It seems that during this past storm they were notifying customers of potential issues and asking for conservation, similar to what I saw in February 2021. I did my part by setting my heater at a lower temperature close to 24 hours prior to the pending storm. My hope was we would not loose power, and thankfully we didn't. I was willing to be a little colder so that there was potentially less or no power outages. I know several elderly couples where long power outages are extremely worrisome. Unfortunately not everyone is willing to make things slightly less than ideal for a short period to help ensure that power remains on for everyone.
I am concerned with a state as large as Texas issuing statewide alerts. For majority of storm systems, only portions of the state will be affected. Waiting for the information to come from one entity, go up through the state for verification and then back out to the potential customers may create too much delay. Hopefully this will not be the case. Although we should all be willing to reduce our usage if a portion of the state will be placed under a high demand period.
They want to prepare educational materials to include instructions for preparing a disaster kit. I get the idea of wanting to help people be prepared, however, there are a ton of places providing feedback to people on how to make a disaster kit. FEMA already has a site for how to build a kit for emergencies, and a multitude of sites that sell kits or provide information on how to make it yourself. I don't think it's a good idea to spend limited resources to create yet another resource.
Texas Energy Reliability Council
Creating a new council to ensure energy and electric industries are meeting human needs and addressing critical infrastructure. I'm not sure that there needs to be an official council of Railroad Commission of Texas; Public Utility Commission of Texas; Office of Public Utility Counsel; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; Texas Transportation Commission; ERCOT; and several others. I imagine that all of these agencies are already aware that they need to work together. Putting those individuals and a bunch of others on some council merely creates another layer rather than the agencies working together to do their job. If they are not working together well then this needs to be addressed. However it should already be the job of the agencies to cooperate and do their jobs. Another layer of individuals meeting twice a year and creating a report is primarily creating a focus for who to blame. Seems to be a lot of virtue signaling and not much else.
They want to designate certain facilities are necessary during an emergency. I'm not sure targeting specific facilities are necessary is a good plan. Are they considered always necessary or does it change? It seems that they are inspected and given an opportunity to correct issues. What happens when they believe the have sufficient number of necessary providers, but some of them are not currently in compliance. Then there is a storm, and the non-necessary are not ready to fill the gaps for the necessary providers that are not in compliance and not fully able to provide power. I think it's better for ERCOT to work with providers to try to ensure that they have sufficient ones on line and prepared prior to storms. Understand that providers have to have maintenance times when they are not at 100% capabilities. I would think ERCOT and every provider would be better able to understand how to be more prepared. All of the rules they are adding seem to be shifting private entities to more government control. While I think Texas does a better job than our Federal government, I still feel that holding private companies responsible is a much better alternative. No private companies wants to be viewed poorly by their customers.
Utilities Code, Chapter 35 is modified.
Sets out rules for what the providers must do to prepare for weather issues, and advises of rules for repeated outages to be managed. It sets out for the commission to have load shedding exercises with providers. If this is important I would think ERCOT should already be doing it. This commission would meet once a quarter. Again all of the items they seem to be discussing as mandates should be items that ERCOT and the providers are already doing. ERCOT preparedness reports are already available on line. So having a commission create a report that would be much the same as the current ERCOT report seems pointless. ERCOT has a job and should be doing it.
They are set out rules for pricing entering an emergency state and throughout the emergency. It's basically ensuring there is a cap on pricing. I understand the concerns because some people apparently were charged significantly high fees during the 2021 freeze. I also know that there were individuals that were paying extremely low prices in the months prior to the freeze, and paid a much higher price during the freeze. If there were a cap placed on charges during the freeze, than those individuals would have taken much less risk in going with the market rate. However, it would no longer be as beneficial to lock in a rate when you would be assured by government force a lower rate during emergencies. Overall this could likely lead to higher overall pricing.
Public Utility Commission Weather Emergency Preparedness Reports - previously Weather Emergency Preparedness Report
Shifting from power generation weatherization preparedness to power weatherization preparedness. And it begins removing electric generation and shifts to electric services. Further it adds railroad commission weather emergency preparedness reports in it's entirety. Adding all the commission items added to other sections. And it sets out standards of emergency operations for water services. Understandably they want the water treatment plants to not fail during an emergency. However I know that during the 2021 incident one of the largest draws to the system was caused by broken pipes that resulted in multitudes of gallons of water being wasted. Low water or water warnings were not issued soley based upon any power losses at water treatment plants.
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