Media sources are reporting that PUCT Commissioner Will McAdams and Independent Market Monitor for the Texas power grid Carrie Bivens are planning to resign soon.
Commissioner McAdams was first appointed to the PUCT in 2021 following Winter Storm Uri.
According to media reports, Bivens is resigning this month following tension with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas concerning a report presented by Bivens in September.
In the report, Bivens writes that “ERCOT’s increase in online reserve procurements with the introduction of ECRS likely raised real-time market energy value by ~$8 billion in three months” and that “additional costs continue to accumulate, notably in early September.”
ERCOT reserved significant generation capacity over the last winter and summer, and also went back out into the market a couple of months ago to reserve another 3500 MWs for this winter. This reduces reserves that participate in price formation every day, and shorter supply means prices run higher and stay high longer.