News Release

February 16, 2011

Media Advisory: Updated Forced Outage List Posted

2:30 pm, February 16, 2011 -- An updated list of generation units that experienced a forced outage during Feb. 1- 4 has been posted on the ERCOT website in News/Reports section:

Forced Outage List - Public Version 1.3.doc  

The units on the list represent those whose owners or operators have given ERCOT written consent to publicly disclose the unit names.    

ERCOT continues to work diligently with qualified scheduling entities and resource entities who have expressed their willingness to release public information about specific units that experienced a forced outage during this time period.  

The list should be considered preliminary and will be updated as additional information is provided to ERCOT and confirmed by qualified scheduling entities and resource entities. 

BACKGROUND

Under Section 1.3.1.1(c) of the ERCOT Protocols, ERCOT is prohibited from releasing information that indicates the “status of Resources, including Outages, limitations, or scheduled or metered Resource data” until 60 days after the applicable operating day.  However, as a result of the weather-related events in the first week of February, ERCOT has received numerous inquiries regarding resources that tripped off-line at some time during February 1 – 4, 2011.  

In order to respond to those inquiries, ERCOT asked market participants representing those resources for written consent to reveal the name of the unit, the owner, the county location, and the fuel type.   

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers -- representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and 710+ generation units. It also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for nearly 8 million premises in competitive choice areas.

ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. Its members include consumers, cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities, transmission and distribution providers and municipally owned electric utilities.

Contact

media@ercot.com

512-275-7432