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Electric Reliability Council of Texas

Electrical Engineering

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas' electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load. ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) in the United States, and works with the Texas Reliability Entity, one of six regional entities within the North American Electric Reliability Corporation that coordinate to improve reliability of the bulk power grid. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Year
1970 1
Significance
ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) in the United States. 1
Classification
Status
Operational 1
FAQs

Why is the Texas grid not under federal regulation?

The Federal Power Act treats the Texas grid as an intrastate grid.

ERCOT was formed in 1970 to comply with requirements of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, but the Texas grid is not subject to regulation under the Federal Power Act, because that law treats it as an intrastate grid. In 1976 Central Southwest Holdings briefly connected the grid to Oklahoma for a few hours in an event later called the Midnight Connection, which led to lawsuits over whether federal regulation then applied. The judgment was that the brief connection was not sufficient.
Sources
1. Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) in the United States.
  • History
    In 1970, ERCOT was formed to comply with NERC requirements.
  • status sentence
    The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas' electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load.
View the Source
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Wikipedia)
In Group: Continental and National Power Grids, Introduction
Quote, In Group: Continental and National Power Grids, Introduction
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas' electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load.
View the Source
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