ERCOT and the Texas PUC say there is not enough dispatchable generation to meet peak demand this summer, forcing the grid to rely on renewables.

Texas grid leaders met with reporters to once again allay concerns about ERCOT’s management of the state’s electric supply.

ERCOT broke its silence on social media when it tweeted the release of its semiannual report that provides a 10-year forecast of its planning reserve margins.

ERCOT worked to ease anxieties in the Texas media after releasing a pair of resource adequacy reports that show it has healthy reserve margins this summer.

ERCOT staff’s work on summer reserve margins has drawn the attention of NERC executives, CEO Bill Magness told the Board of Directors.

ERCOT said it still expects record demand this summer and the potential need for emergency measures, despite a drop in load from the COVID-19 pandemic.

ERCOT will likely welcome back double-digit reserve margins next year and well into the decade, according to the grid operator’s latest CDR report.

ERCOT said its final summer 2019 resource adequacy assessment indicates “a potential need” to enter energy emergency alert status for system reliability.

The mothballing of a coal-fired plant has reduced ERCOT’s reserve margin of 8.1% to 7.4%, prodding the Texas PUC into ordering market changes.

ERCOT is repeating many of the preparations it took before last summer as it looks ahead to even tighter reserve margins in 2019.