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Public Utility Commission expected to discuss, vote on market redesign plan following 2021 winter storm

The Texas legislature ordered the PUC to start creating new plans following the power grid crisis in February 2021, which left millions of Texans in the cold.

AUSTIN, Texas —

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) is holding its regular meeting Thursday to discuss a plan to redesign how the organization acquires power for the grid.

The PUC proposed a plan toward the end of 2022 to incentivize power plants to produce electricity quickly whenever the grid is under the most stress. The Texas legislature ordered the PUC to start creating new plans following the power grid crisis in February 2021, which left millions of Texans in the cold.

Following the winter storm, multiple changes were made to help prepare the grid for more bouts of extreme weather. Some of the new plans that the PUC has implemented include its "winterization" process, including creating a reliability standard for Texas' electricity market and requiring power plants to better prepare for extreme cold conditions. 

The PUC's favored proposal, which the public voiced its opinions on in December, would be a supply-and-demand model that relies on price and provides a large financial reward to those that can produce the cheapest power the fastest during times of extreme need.

On the other side of that benefit, power plants that failed to produce the power promised during extreme weather to the PUC would suffer financial penalties.

In the PUC's meeting on Thursday, the organization is slated to vote on the proposed plan in addition to the report it will deliver to the 88th Texas Legislature.

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