Two Texas Public Utility Commission members on Thursday blasted the US Environmental Protection Agency's latest revision of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, saying it assumes the state has access to capacity that is not available.
PUC Chairman Donna Nelson said the EPA's October 6 revision did not take into account the modeling errors the PUC and Electric Reliability Council of Texas discovered in the federal agency's calculation of the generation capacity available in the state.
"They seemed to be understanding at the time that we talked to them and not disputing our numbers," Nelson said.EPA's analysis, for example, includes about 10,000 MW of wind capacity, while ERCOT estimates that only about 8.7% of that can be counted on for reliability purposes, said H.B. "Trip" Doggett, ERCOT president and CEO.
While the EPA's revised rule allows Texas generators to emit more sulfur dioxide, its analysis of the reliability impact of the rule still includes about 6,000 MW of retired generation as being available to serve load, Doggett said at the PUC meeting Thursday.
Nelson said she is disappointed EPA did not fix the errors ERCOT had cited in EPA's analysis.
Commissioner Ken Anderson asked Doggett, "Are you taking pictures of the plants that no longer exist ... the cows grazing on those fields?"
Doggett said ERCOT has made it clear that retired capacity is no longer available, and said his staff plans to release by October 21 a revised estimate of the effects of CSAPR on generation adequacy in the independent system operator's footprint.
Anderson said, "It's mind-boggling, to me, that an agency that is supposed to be full of scientists cannot do math."
PUC Chairman Donna Nelson said the EPA's October 6 revision did not take into account the modeling errors the PUC and Electric Reliability Council of Texas discovered in the federal agency's calculation of the generation capacity available in the state.
"They seemed to be understanding at the time that we talked to them and not disputing our numbers," Nelson said.EPA's analysis, for example, includes about 10,000 MW of wind capacity, while ERCOT estimates that only about 8.7% of that can be counted on for reliability purposes, said H.B. "Trip" Doggett, ERCOT president and CEO.
While the EPA's revised rule allows Texas generators to emit more sulfur dioxide, its analysis of the reliability impact of the rule still includes about 6,000 MW of retired generation as being available to serve load, Doggett said at the PUC meeting Thursday.
Nelson said she is disappointed EPA did not fix the errors ERCOT had cited in EPA's analysis.
Commissioner Ken Anderson asked Doggett, "Are you taking pictures of the plants that no longer exist ... the cows grazing on those fields?"
Doggett said ERCOT has made it clear that retired capacity is no longer available, and said his staff plans to release by October 21 a revised estimate of the effects of CSAPR on generation adequacy in the independent system operator's footprint.
Anderson said, "It's mind-boggling, to me, that an agency that is supposed to be full of scientists cannot do math."
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