Texas
The Lone Star State bustles with economic growth and opportunity. Demand for electricity in Texas continues to grow as well. CPower can help your organization keep the grid in balance while you earn with demand response and save with peak demand management.
The State of the Texas Market from The Current
Should Texas Connect to the US National Power Grids?
It has been just over a year since Texas suffered rolling blackouts that forced millions of citizens to go without power for days amidst historically freezing temperatures. The unfortunate toll of an estimated $80 to $100 billion in property damage pales when compared to the tragic loss of...
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State of the Texas Energy Market in 2021
In recent years, Texas’s energy market has been put to the test with shrinking reserve margins, increased electrical demand, and grid-threatening heat waves. The ERCOT grid has held and the market has helped organizations in the Lone Star State earn significant revenue by monetizing distributed energy resources. This...
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About the Texas Market
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas operates a competitive wholesale bulk-power market. Unlike forward capacity markets like the ones in New England or PJM, ERCOT’s is an energy-only market.
Instead of a capacity market, ERCOT maintains a capacity reserve margin, calculated by subtracting the projected peak demand on the grid from the total capacity generation available in Texas.
ERCOT maintains day-ahead, real-time energy market, and ancillary service markets. These markets consist of participating assets on both the generation and demand-side (behind-the-meter).
Demand Response Programs in Texas
To maintain grid reliability and help organizations in Texas offset their energy use and spend, ERCOT offers the following demand-side energy management programs:
Demand Response Programs
Emergency Response Service (ERS)
ERCOT’s entry-level demand response program. ERS pays organizations for using less energy when the grid is stressed or when electricity prices are high. There are two types of ERS programs: ERS 10 and ERS 30, which pay businesses for being available to curtail their energy loads within 10 and 30 minutes.
Load Resource (LR)
LR is one of the more financially rewarding ERCOT programs with the potential for revenue upside depending on market conditions. If more than the procurement limit clears the market, then proration will be triggered.
SOP Utility Program
Like ERS, this is a grid defense program used prior to ERCOT emergencies. Utilities offering this program (Oncor and CenterPoint) have different MW targets and budgets for curtailment and payments. There are summer and winter options and each run 24/7.
ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS)
One of the newest and most valuable programs in ERCOT, ECRS is similar to LR with a required response time of 10-minutes. An under frequency relay (UFR) is not required to participate, but it is allowed.
Demand Management Programs
4CP Management
Every month your business is charged a fee—called a peak charge or, more specifically in Texas, a 4CP charge—based on how much electricity an organization consumed during the period when electricity demand on the grid was at its highest. 4CP management involves curtailing energy consumption during periods of peak system load, thereby lowering 4CP value, which in turn reduces 4CP power charges the following year.
Texas Program Parameters
