The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has announced a “strategic leadership reorganization.”
As part of the reorganization, Woody Rickerson, formerly the company’s vice president of System Planning and Climate Control, has been promoted to the newly created position of senior vice president and chief operating officer, and Kristi Hobbs, formerly vice president of corporate strategy and the company. PUC Relations, has been appointed Vice President of Systems Planning and Air Conditioning.
In his new role, Rickerson will oversee grid operations, HVAC, planning and business operations, ERCOT disclosed. Hobbs will report to Rickerson and oversee transmission planning, generator interconnection activities, modeling and HVAC, the company noted.
Also under the reorganization, Betty Day, the company’s vice president of security and compliance and chief compliance officer, assumed oversight of business continuity, and Rebecca Zerwas was named director of state policy and relations for the Public Utilities Commission, link of the council
Rickerson has worked at ERCOT, in various capacities, for more than 19 years, the company’s site notes. A licensed professional engineer, he has worked for utilities in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, the ERCOT site shows.
Hobbs joined ERCOT in 2002 after serving two years as a senior retail market analyst for the PUCT, where he worked with the Commission to implement policy in the transition to competition for the Texas electric industry, states ERCOT on its site. During his tenure at ERCOT, Hobbs has held various positions focused on developing relationships both internal and external to the organization, the ERCOT site notes.
“These changes were designed to leverage the talents and collaborative strengths of our experienced team to support the delivery of reliable and efficient energy to the millions of Texans we serve,” said Pablo Vegas, president and CEO of ERCOT, in a statement from the company. .
“As our industry faces dynamic changes, ERCOT is continually evolving and making necessary network improvements to support the needs of a growing population and a robust economy. This reorganization allows us to focus on day-to-day operations as we implement our long-term strategic plan,” he added.
In June, ERCOT announced the selection of Linda Capuano to serve on its board of directors. The company described Capuano as a seasoned corporate director and business leader who brings extensive business, government and academic experience to the role, having held leadership positions at large and small companies, startups, universities and within the US Department of Energy.
In December 2022, ERCOT named Mark Miner as the organization’s new Director of Corporate Communications, and in October 2022, ERCOT announced the hiring of Robert Black as the organization’s new Vice President of Public Affairs.
ERCOT announced the selection of Pablo Vegas to be its president and CEO in August of last year. He previously served as executive vice president of NiSource and group president of NiSource Utilities.
In April 2021, ERCOT announced the selection of Brad Jones to serve as interim president and CEO and in February 2021, ERCOT announced the election of Sally A. Talberg as the new board chair and Peter Cramton as to vice president
Conservation requests
ERCOT recently announced a series of conservation requests.
On August 30, the company asked Texans to conserve electricity, if it is safe to do so, the same day from 6 to 9 p.m. CT.
“Due to a high level of unexpected thermal generation outages and the forecast of low wind generation, ERCOT’s operating reserves are expected to be low tonight,” the utility noted in a 30 August
On Aug. 29, ERCOT asked Texans to conserve electricity use from 5 to 9 p.m. CT, noting that, “due to a high level of unexpected thermal generation outages and forecast outages wind generation,” ERCOT’s operating reserves were expected to be low in the afternoon. and evening
On August 27, ERCOT issued another conservation notice.
“Due to low wind and low potential solar generation and high demand, ERCOT operating reserves are expected to be low in the afternoon and evening,” ERCOT said in a statement released earlier in the day.
ERCOT also issued a conservation advisory on Aug. 26, “due to low wind and the potential for low solar generation and high demand,” and another on Aug. 25, “due to low generation of ‘wind energy and the continued high demand’.
An electricity conservation warning was also issued on August 24, “due to low wind power generation and high demand”.
At the time of writing, ERCOT’s site shows grid conditions as “normal” and notes that “there is sufficient power for current demand.”
Rigzone asked ERCOT if it sees more conservation requests coming this summer. As of this writing, the company has yet to respond to Rigzone.
ERCOT manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers, who account for about 90 percent of the state’s electric load, ERCOT notes on its website.
“As the region’s independent system operator, ERCOT schedules power into an electric grid that connects more than 52,700 miles of transmission lines and 1,100 generating units, including private-use grids,” the site states.
“It also carries out financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk energy market and administers the retail switching of eight million premises in competitive choice areas,” he adds.
ERCOT is a 501(c)(4) membership-based nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature.
To contact the author, please send an email andreas.exarcheas@rigzone.com
