OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
ERCOT is technically working great.. to be pedantic. LOL. The gencos in the market are killing it if they have good gas contracts.. Transmission congestion is probably the hurdle right now.
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The hurdle has been insufficient gas supply as heating was given priority, as well as plants not being hardened against extreme cold, which took out some thermal capacity as well. This resulted in rolling blackouts for some 20% of customers, I wouldn't describe that as "working great". The model IS working as intended though, which is why prices have gone the way they have the last few days. It's a market where wind has achieved a huge share but was not expected to show up in any significant capacity during this event which resulted in the burden falling on the shoulders of the gas gen that bids in to replace it when needed. This failed to deliver due to the issues already mentioned.
It exposes the vulnerability of the gas/wind pairing to extreme weather events, as, unlike a coal or nuclear plant, which have supply local to them, gas plants rely on what's essentially the fuel version of JIT. If that infrastructure is compromised, the wheels come off.