Power grid improvements to be ready by 2018

A report recently released by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) identifies several transmission improvements planned for the next five years to address growing needs on the electric grid that serves most of Texas.
According to the 2013 Report on Existing and Potential Electric Constraints and Needs, transmission providers in the ERCOT region expect to complete more than $3.6 billion in projects between 2014 and 2018.
These include additions or upgrades to more than 3,300 miles of transmission lines and other equipment improvements to increase capacity and support reliability.
Improvements identified in the report focus on existing and potential constraints, where limited capacity of transmission infrastructure could create reliability concerns or increase power costs for consumers in the next five years.
The recently completed Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) projects have eliminated congestion that had limited power flows from West Texas to more populated areas in central and eastern Texas.
In recent years, the most significant constraints in the ERCOT system resulted from high electric demand associated with oil and gas exploration and production in the Permian Basin. Transmission providers in the region have already implemented many improvements to address those concerns and will continue to do so in the coming years.
As similar growth has occurred in the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas, ERCOT’s Regional Planning Group, which includes transmission providers and other market participants, has approved about $331 million of improvements for completion between 2014 and 2017 to address constraints in that area.

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