Association Webinars: Competitive Electricity Markets in Texas: The past 20 years



  

It has been 20 years since Texas restructured its electricity market to foster competition. What have we learned? And what changes are being considered in light of the performance of the market during February's winter storm?

State legislation in 1999 created a centralized wholesale electricity market for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power region and introduced retail competition within the service areas of the state's intrastate investor-owned service areas in January 2002. Free from FERC jurisdiction, the ERCOT market has evolved in a unique manner and is often cited as North America's most successful attempt to introduce competition in both generation and retail sectors. Over the past 20 years, what have we learned through our efforts to unleash the forces of competition in one of America's top energy states? What vulnerabilities were exposed during February's winter storm, and what steps are being considered to address those weaknesses?

Speaker:

Jay Zarnikau teaches graduate-level courses in applied statistics, research methods, and energy economics at The University of Texas at Austin. As the former president of Frontier Associates LLC (which was acquired by GTI four years ago) Jay provided consulting assistance to utilities and energy consumers in the design and evaluation of energy efficiency programs, market design, electricity pricing, demand forecasting, and energy policy. He was previously the Director of Electric Utility Regulation at the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Jay has authored or co-authored over 100 articles in academic and trade journals, and provided expert witness testimony in over 45 regulatory proceedings. Jay has a Ph.D. degree in Economics from The University of Texas.

 

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