ERCOT may connect with eastern power grid to avoid winter emergency conditions

Beth Garza, a former monitor of ERCOT, said Texas would be better prepared for severe winter storms like the winter blast in February 2021 if the Texas’ grid was better connected to the western and eastern grids.

Texas has long resisted connecting to avoid federal oversight, but Garza said she believes there are ways to connect and keep ERCOT’s independence.

“I’m not looking for federal oversight of the electricity system but there are ways to increase ERCOT’s ability to draw on remote resources from outside the region,” she said. “As we think about other winter storms that have hit other parts of the country, those areas that have the ability to import lots of power remotely are the ones that are most able to survive the weather.”