What ERCOT does
ERCOT balances supply and demand on the grid every few minutes, runs the wholesale power market, and plans the transmission system with the utilities. ERCOT says it manages about 90 percent of the electric load in Texas.
The ERCOT grid sits almost wholly inside Texas, with limited ties to other grids. For that reason it is overseen mainly by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Texas Legislature.
Parts of Texas outside ERCOT
Not all of Texas is in ERCOT. The Panhandle is largely in SPP, parts of East Texas are in MISO or SPP, and the El Paso area is tied to the western grid. A site in those areas follows different rules and prices.
Why it matters for siting
ERCOT has its own interconnection process, its own prices by location, and its own rules for large loads under Texas SB 6. Voltane works in ERCOT first: its engine reads Texas land against the ERCOT grid, queue and prices.
Questions people ask
Is ERCOT a utility?
No. ERCOT operates the grid and the market, but it does not own power lines or sell power to homes. Transmission utilities own the lines, and they handle connection requests with ERCOT.
Who regulates ERCOT?
The Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature oversee ERCOT.
How do I know if a site is in ERCOT?
Ask the utility that serves the area. Voltane infers the grid region of a Texas site from public utility and grid data and marks it as inferred where it is not certain.
Related
More glossary
- What is time to power?
- What is powered land?
- What is a powered shell?
- What is large load interconnection?
- What is a point of interconnection?
- What is an interconnection queue?
- What is queue position?
- What is an ERCOT load zone?
Need a site, or have one?
Tell us what you need and Voltane finds, reports on and prices candidate sites in ERCOT. Or bring a site you already have for a path-to-power report (by request for now).