ERCOT calculates a 1:7 chance of outages in December; could be worse in January and February

Texas policymakers have consistently neglected demand side solutions. They talk about them but they haven’t done much of anything to reduce demand even though it’s been obvious to everyone paying attention that demand side solutions are necessary.

The latest example broke last week. ERCOT is trying to find 3,000 megawatts of “zombie power plants” to bring back from the dead. 

It’s clear that this isn’t adequate. The CEO of CPS Energy, the utility with several of the units ERCOT wants to bring back from the dead, said as much: “It’s been five years since we’ve run it. There’s no way we can bring it back in four months.”

Texans won’t have a reliable grid until leaders prioritize demand reductions at least as much as additional supply…