Texas Power Plants Have Until Dec. 1 to Swear They Are Ready for Winter. Here Is What the State Requires

While most Texans are thinking about Tuesday's ballot, the companies that keep the lights on are working toward a different deadline.

Power plant owners and transmission companies on the state's main grid must file sworn declarations that they are ready for winter between Nov. 1 and 11:59:59 p.m. on Dec. 1, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas told market participants in an Oct. 15 market notice. The filings go through ERCOT's Weatherization and Inspection portal, and each one includes a notarized attestation.

ERCOT scheduled online question-and-answer sessions for companies on Nov. 2, Nov. 10, Nov. 18 and Nov. 30.

What the rule demands

The requirement comes from a Public Utility Commission of Texas rule, 16 Texas Administrative Code Section 25.55, on weather emergency preparedness. It was adopted in November 2021 and amended in October 2022, according to the notes in the version published by Cornell's Legal Information Institute.

Under the rule, a generation company must finish its winter preparations by Dec. 1 for every plant it controls and keep them up through the winter season, which the rule defines as Dec. 1 through Feb. 28. Those measures include, as appropriate for each plant:

• wind breaks for plants vulnerable to wind-related outages

• insulation and enclosures for all cold weather critical components, plus inspection and repair of damaged insulation and waterproofing

• enough chemicals, backup fuels and other supplies on hand to keep running through a winter emergency

• systems that keep moisture out of instrument air lines

• freeze protection equipment, tested before winter and every month during it

• monitoring of every cold weather critical component

Since 2023, plants must also take steps that could reasonably be expected to keep them running at the 95th percentile of the lowest average 72-hour wind chill in ERCOT's historical weather study for their weather zone. Companies must review staffing plans, train operators for winter conditions and keep an updated list of their cold weather critical components.

A sworn statement from the top

The declaration must list every plant it covers and summarize the work done. The rule requires a notarized attestation sworn to by the company's highest-ranking representative, official or officer with binding authority, vouching that the work is complete and the information is accurate.

Transmission service providers face their own Dec. 1 winter preparation deadline under a separate part of the rule.

Inspections and penalties

ERCOT must inspect power plants, and every resource connected to the grid must be inspected at least once every three years. ERCOT may give priority to plants that are critical to reliability, have gone longest without an inspection, or have had weather-related outages. Companies get at least 72 hours' written notice and must open the facility to inspectors.

If a plant falls short, ERCOT gives the company a reasonable period to fix the problem. A company that does not cure the deficiencies can be referred to commission staff for an enforcement investigation. A violation is classed as a Class A violation and may carry a penalty of up to $1,000,000 per violation per day.

A plant with a major or repeated weather-related failure must hire an outside professional engineer to find the root cause and write a corrective action plan. The company must send that assessment to the commission and ERCOT within 15 calendar days of receiving it.

How November looks

ERCOT's monthly outlook for November does not point to trouble. The riskiest hour is the one ending at 7 p.m., with a 3.40% chance that ERCOT would need to declare an energy emergency alert. ERCOT treats anything at or below 10% as low risk.

The report flags a new wrinkle for the cooler months: morning risk. Cold temperatures before and during sunrise, when solar output is insignificant, push the chance of an emergency alert to 2.23% in the hour ending at 7 a.m. and 2.66% in the hour ending at 8 a.m. More plants are also out for maintenance than in October.

For the 7 p.m. peak hour, ERCOT's typical scenario assumes demand of 65,446 megawatts and 22,108 megawatts of thermal plants offline. Dispatchable resources, the kind that can be turned up on command, make up 58% of installed capacity but an expected 83% of available capacity in that hour. The report also notes that its model does not capture emergency risk from transmission limits on imports into Far West Texas.

Why it matters at home

Texas has grown fast, as ERCOT's record September demand showed, and winter cold can push demand up quickly. The state has decided that plant owners must put their names, under oath, behind their readiness. That is a fair expectation for an industry Texans depend on.

For families, the lesson is the same as every year: prepare at home, too, and use space heaters and stoves with care when the first hard freeze arrives.