When the grid is strained due to AC loads, solar is pumping out full capacity (with a de minimis performance decrease at utility scale if the temp is exceptionally high). Lots of questions about how much of their fossil gas infra will be stranded as batteries rapidly decline in cost (battery firmed renewables directly compete with fossil gas).
I don’t live in Texas, but have friends and family that do, so I’ve been there to install renewables and batteries for them and am very familiar with the situation (and also monitor grid stability remotely where their equipment touches the utility); Victoria Electric Cooperative is particularly on my shit list for making public statements that renewables are the cause of ERCOT instability (for political purposes in direct contradiction of the data).
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/28/texas-solar-power-gr...
This is utterly disgusting.
energy pricing is ostensibly all market-based here, with only spot and day-ahead markets whereas most (all?) other ISOs have year-ahead capacity auctions. the upshot for producers is that peak rates are capped much higher, around $10k here vs around $2k elsewhere. this worked for a while but renewables can often sell at near zero thanks to tax credits, so there's more volatility and destructive competition now. dispatchable producers stay competitive with a poor state of repair and a more selective approach to generation that favors peak hours. this is why in the summer we are constantly getting conservation notices but rarely have wide blackouts, as spikes to $1500+ are ordinary and we've hit $4000+ more than once this year
we broke 90 GW for the first time, compared to 85ish last year. much of that has come from industry growth. in an ideal world there's a straightforward solution: ban industrialized crypto mining, and require miners, heavy manufacturers, and refiners using a certain amount of power to generate a majority of their base load in-house _and pay their full share of transmission infrastructure costs_ (transmission issues being a factor in the emergency alert that went out this past weds)
the article says wind and solar are "propping up" the grid but what i've observed is the sun stops shining and the wind stops blowing at exactly the worst times. hopefully companche peak doesn't have a unit shut down at the same time, as happened in 21
ercot have been doing a fine job with the hand the PUC dealt them, but my goodness is it scary to watch how often and drastically the frequency swings out of the clean range