ERCOT Organization Backgrounder

Overview

Founded in 1970, ERCOT is an independent, not-for-profit organization responsible for overseeing the reliable and safe transmission of electricity over Texas' main electricity power grid. As the independent system operator (ISO) since 1996, ERCOT has been the broker between competitive wholesale power buyers and sellers. ERCOT ISO also provided the platform upon which Texas' electric utility industry made the transition to state-legislated retail competition, which began on January 1, 2002.

The Power Grid

Texas' main electric power grid is a 40,500-mile network of long-distance, high-voltage transmission lines and substations that carries bulk electricity to multiple utility companies for distribution to their customers. This grid, which has an approximately 73,700 megawatts of available generation capacity, delivers approximately 85 percent of Texas' overall power usage to 23 million Texans.

Coverage Area

The ERCOT coverage area includes approximately 75 percent of the land area in Texas. The region does not include the El Paso region, the northern panhandle, a small area around Texarkana and a small portion of the region around Beaumont.

Members

ERCOT's members include consumers, cooperatives, independent generators, independent power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities (transmission and distribution providers), and municipal-owned electric utilities.

Governance

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 (PUCT) and the Texas Legislature.   The ERCOT board of directors is a 16-member "hybrid" group that includes six market participants from each of the six electric utility market groups,  three consumer representatives, five independent (unaffiliated) members, the ERCOT CEO and the Texas PUCT chair (non-voting). The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) makes policy recommendations to the board of directors. TAC is assisted by five standing subcommittees, as well as numerous workgroups and task forces.

Facilities

ERCOT's operations activities are headquartered in Taylor 25 miles northeast of Austin in an 85,000-square-foot operations center and additional 75,000-square-foot facility.  An additional backup operations center is located outside of Austin. 

Most board and stakeholder meetings are held at an executive and administration center near the Austin-Bergstrom Airport at 7620 Metro Center Drive.