The commission must ensure ERCOT reliability rules and programs are set up, and the independent organization must determine, procure, and size services to support reliability.
Sec. 39.159. POWER REGION RELIABILITY AND DISPATCHABLE GENERATION. (a) For the purposes of this section, a generation facility is considered to be non-dispatchable if the facility's output is controlled primarily by forces outside of human control. (b) The commission shall ensure that the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region: (1) establishes requirements to meet the reliability needs of the power region; (2) periodically, but at least annually, determines the quantity and characteristics of ancillary or reliability services necessary to ensure appropriate reliability during extreme heat and extreme cold weather conditions and during times of low non-dispatchable power production in the power region; (3) procures ancillary or reliability services on a competitive basis to ensure appropriate reliability during extreme heat and extreme cold weather conditions and during times of low non-dispatchable power production in the power region; (4) develops appropriate qualification and performance requirements for providing services under Subdivision (3), including appropriate penalties for failure to provide the services; and (5) sizes the services procured under Subdivision (3) to prevent prolonged rotating outages due to net load variability in high demand and low supply scenarios. (c) The commission shall ensure that: (1) resources that provide services under Subsection (b) are dispatchable and able to meet continuous operating requirements for the season in which the service is procured; (2) winter resource capability qualifications for a service described by Subsection (b) include on-site fuel storage, dual fuel capability, or fuel supply arrangements to ensure winter performance for several days; and (3) summer resource capability qualifications for a service described by Subsection (b) include facilities or procedures to ensure operation under drought conditions. (d) The commission shall require the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region to develop and implement an ancillary services program to procure dispatchable reliability reserve services on a day-ahead and real-time basis to account for market uncertainty. Under the required program, the independent organization shall: (1) determine the quantity of services necessary based on historical variations in generation availability for each season based on a targeted reliability standard or goal, including intermittency of non-dispatchable generation facilities and forced outage rates, for dispatchable generation facilities; (2) develop criteria for resource participation that require a resource to: (A) be capable of running for at least four hours at the resource's high sustained limit; (B) be online and dispatchable not more than two hours after being called on for deployment; and (C) have the dispatchable flexibility to address inter-hour operational challenges; and (3) reduce the amount of reliability unit commitment by the amount of dispatchable reliability reserve services procured under this section. (e) Notwithstanding Subsection (d)(2)(A), the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region may require a resource to be capable of running for more than four hours as the organization determines is needed. Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 426 (S.B. 3), Sec. 18, eff. June 8, 2021. Amended by: Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 410 (H.B. 1500), Sec. 21, eff. September 1, 2023. Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 410 (H.B. 1500), Sec. 22, eff. September 1, 2023.