The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) announced a series of strategic organizational changes designed to accelerate innovation, strengthen grid reliability, and support the unprecedented growth in electric demand across Texas. Two new ERCOT organizations — Interconnection and Grid Analysis and Enterprise Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) — will formally launch in January 2026.
- The new Interconnection and Grid Analysis organization will better support the rapid increases in large loads and generation resources seeking grid interconnection and enable further advancements in grid analytics. Jeff Billo will lead this effort and has been promoted to Vice President of Interconnection and Grid Analysis. Billo will oversee generation interconnection, large load interconnection, stability analysis, and stability model validation efforts. Jeff will report to Woody Rickerson, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
- ERCOT has created the Enterprise Data and AI organization, which will be led by Venkat Tirupati as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. He will oversee Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) and Data Governance and Platform Technology as well as Data Products and AI Strategy. Venkat will report directly to ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas.
- ERCOT has been focused on enabling cloud technologies, opening new ways of designing and delivering innovative solutions. To support this, Bryan Hanley has been promoted to Vice President of IT Infrastructure reporting to Jayapal Parakkuth, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer. Bryan will oversee Infrastructure Operations, Database Services, and IT Systems Reliability. Bryan has more than 27 years of experience in infrastructure, data systems, and IT leadership. Ajay Mannepalli is being promoted to Vice President of DevOps and Architecture to fill the opening left be Trupati and will also reporting to Jayapal Parakkuth. He will oversee IT Architecture and Strategy, Grid and Market Solutions, Settlements and Credit, Retail and Metering, Digital Services as well as Corporate IT Services.
- ERCOT has contracted with McKinsey and Company to assist with improvement of the Large Load Interconnection process originally developed in 2022, which now has more than 225 gigawatts (GW) of Large Loads going through the process. ERCOT and McKinsey will work with Large Load customers, including data centers, utilities, and other stakeholders to develop a framework expected to identify short- and mid-term solutions to interconnection queue issues in early 2026 — with a goal of providing a streamlined,
