Most of The Woodlands is served by Entergy, part of the national grid’s Midcontinent Independent System Operator, while Creekside Park is on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid. MISO AND ERCOT
Winterization takes priority at anniversary of historic freeze
prior to the storm.” However, energy experts said the February temperatures were not as severe or sustained as the deep freeze that caused disruptions last year, including widespread outages in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, grid that also serves The Woodlands area in Creekside Park. “This was run-of-the-mill winter weather,” said Ed Hirs, energy eco- nomics professor at the University of Houston. Winter preparation efforts According to Allison Payne, senior communications specialist with Entergy, winterization efforts began following Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. Previous reporting from Commu- nity Impact Newspaper indicates at the peak of the storm, 155,238 Entergy customers out of the 473,000 in Texas were affected by outages. “Immediately following the storm, we began a thorough post-event review of what happened and iden- tified areas for improvement,” Payne said in a Jan. 28 email. “Through this process we developed and enhanced plant-specific processes and pro- cedures and identified projects to upgrade and harden our plant freeze protection systems.”
BY ANDREW CHRISTMAN Approaching the anniversary of Winter Storm Uri in mid-Febru- ary, local energy provider Entergy announced its winterization efforts were completed before its 2023 dead- line and are ready for cold weather this year. Improvements throughout 2021 included insulating critical equip- ment and pipes that could be at risk of freezing, Entergy Customer Service Manager Detrick Taylor said at a Dec. 8 meeting of The Woodlands Town- ship board of directors. Additional energy reliability efforts will continue through 2022, he said. The first test for recent improve- ments came during below-freezing temperatures in early February this year, in which Entergy officials said only 90 customers lost power in The Woodlands area, 85 of which were due to equipment failure, and power was restored within 35 minutes. Chris Nunes, assistant general man- ager in The Woodlands Township, said electrical systems have been operational in recent cold weather. “We discussed with our electrical partners and we were not notified of any significant outages during the last storm,” he said. “[Our electri- cal partners] were making various repairs … and they addressed those
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THE WOODLANDS
45
2978
N
N
ERCOT
MISO
Midcontinent Independent System Operator
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
Serves 26 million customers
Serves 42 million customers
Deregulated; does not need to comply with federal standards Reports to Public Utility Commission of Texas 59.17% of Texas customers lost service in February 2021 Lost power during peak outages during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021
Serves most of Montgomery County
Covers 15 states
Complies with federal standards
32.82% of Entergy customers lost service in February 2021
SOURCES: MIDCONTINENT INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR, ELECTRIC RELIABILITY COUNCIL OF TEXAS/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
In 2021, the south region of MISO had consistently more energy available on its grid compared to its northern counterparts, including during Winter Storm Uri. VARIATIONS IN SYSTEM LOAD
ENERGY NEEDS INCREASING
ERCOT projects Texas will see an increase in energy needs in the coming years. Annual demand peaks during the summer months but overall usage is expected to rise each year.
SOUTH REGION (including Texas)
NORTH REGION
WINTER STORM URI
2022
2023
2024
2025
25
Winter Storm Uri
80M
20
70M
15
60M
10
5
JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. JULY AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. 0
0
In addition to projections from ERCOT, Texas’ annual overall electricity sales are projected to grow at 1.74% from 2022-41, according to the 2021 MISO Energy and Peak Demand Forecasting for System Planning report prepared by Purdue University.
DEC. 2020
JAN. 2021
FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUN. JULY AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. 2021
SOURCES: ERCOT, PURDUE UNIVERSITY/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
SOURCE: MIDCONTINENT INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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