ERCOT Board Delays Decision On Raising Target Reserve Margin
June 17, 2013
The ERCOT Board of Directors deferred until September a decision to increase the target reserve margin to 16.1 percent from the current 13.75 percent. ERCOT Board Chair Craven Crowell said the planning reserve margin, as well as the load-carrying capability of wind – which is also being reviewed – are directly related to proceedings at the Public Utility Commission of Texas regarding resource adequacy. He added that action on the planning reserve margin would complicate the PUCT’s work. Craven also cited lingering questions from the Texas Industrial Energy Consumers regarding the methodology used by ERCOT’s consultant in the loss of load study, including how demand response is counted, whether the forced outage rate is too high for peak periods and the sensitivity of wind studies. He asked ERCOT staff to re-examine the reserve margin recommendation in light of these concerns.