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ALL RIGHT.[Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on September 8, 2022.]
UH, WELCOME TO THE SEPTEMBER 8TH MEETING OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE.THE MEETING IS CALLED TO ORDER AT 2:00 PM TODAY WE HAVE THREE PRESENTATIONS ALL FOCUSED ON DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PREPAREDNESS RELATING SPECIFICALLY TO, UM, POWER GRID STABILITY, UH, FOR OUR CITY AS IT RELATES TO THE STATE.
UH, FIRST WE'RE GONNA HEAR FROM DR.
JULIE CONE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF HU HOUSTON AND RICE UNIVERSITY'S BAKER INSTITUTE.
UH, SHE WILL BE VIRTUALLY PRESENTING AND WE'LL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF OUR ENERGY SYSTEM HERE IN TEXAS, WHO THE KEY PLAYERS ARE, AND WHAT LEGISLATIVE CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE SINCE, UH, WINTER STORM URI.
UH, SECOND WE'LL HEAR FROM MR. JASON FABRE, DIRECTOR OF LOCAL REGULATORY AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, AND DAVID MERCADO, WHO IS THE DIRECTOR OF REALTIME OPERATIONS, BOTH FROM CENTERPOINT ENERGY, AND THEY WILL BE GIVING AN OVERVIEW OF HOW CENTERPOINT WORKS WITH THE CITY OF HOUSTON AND ERCOT, WHAT THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES ARE, AND HOW THEY ARE PREPARING AND IMPLEMENTING CURRENT, UH, SAFEGUARDS AT THIS TIME.
FINALLY, UH, AND THIRD, WE WILL HEAR FROM DEPUTY DIRECTOR TOM MUNOZ FROM OEM, WHO WILL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF HOW THE CITY IS PREPARING IN LIGHT OF WINTER STORM URI AND INCREASING HEAT WAVES, AS WE SAW THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER, UH, AGAIN, THE FOCUS THAT THIS COMMITTEE IN WHAT WE ARE MOST CONCERNED WITH IS ENSURING EMERGENCY AND CITY OPERATIONS THROUGHOUT ANY SITUATION AND ASSISTANCE FOR OUR RESIDENTS WHO MAY BE IN NEED.
UH, WE ARE JOINED IN CHAMBERS BY, UH, MY COLLEAGUE, COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY ALCORN.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AS WELL AS STAFF, UH, IN CHAMBERS FROM COUNCIL MEMBER CIRO'S, OFFICE, COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS'S OFFICE, AND COUNCIL MEMBER PECK'S OFFICE.
I HAVE STAFF FROM MAYOR PRO TEM, DAVE MARTIN'S, OFFICE, VICE MAYOR, PRO TEM CASTEX TATUM'S, OFFICE COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON'S OFFICE, COUNCIL MEMBER POLLARD'S OFFICE, AND WHO AM I? OH, AND COUNCIL MEMBER GALLEGOS OFFICE.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WATCHING ONLINE AND ON HTV.
UH, PLEASE NOTE THE PRESENTATIONS ARE UPLOADED ON OUR COMMITTEE WEBSITE AS WELL.
UH, AS A REMINDER, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF, UH, WE WILL TAKE QUESTIONS AFTER EACH PRESENTATION.
AND IF YOU'RE JOINING US VIRTUALLY, JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER TO PLEASE PUT YOUR NAME IN THE QUEUE, UH, IN CHAT, SO WE KNOW THAT, UH, YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION BEFORE WE GET TO OUR PRESENTATIONS.
VERY QUICKLY, UM, I WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE, UH, AND RECOGNIZE THE PASSING OF HPD, SERGEANT KELVIN JOHNSON, UH, OF THE SOUTH GESNER DIVISION.
UH, SOUTH SERGEANT JOHNSON WAS A 38 YEAR VETERAN OF HPD.
HE SERVED IN NUMEROUS DIVISIONS OVER HIS LONG CAREER AND WAS A LEADER AND MENTOR TO MANY OFFICERS THROUGHOUT HIS TENURE.
AND I KNOW THAT, UM, THE LOSS IS BEING FELT, UH, THROUGHOUT THE DEPARTMENT IN THE CITY.
I ALSO WANTED TO MAKE NOTE, UM, WE HAD AN IMPORTANT PRESENTATION BY CHIEF FINNER RECENTLY ON UPDATED CRIME STATISTICS IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, UH, FOR THE PUBLIC.
I KNOW COUNSEL, WE RECEIVED A COPY OF THAT PRESENTATION, WHICH I FOUND TO BE VERY HELPFUL.
UH, THAT PRESENTATION WILL SOON ALSO BE POSTED ON THE COMMITTEE'S WEBSITE UNDER TODAY'S HEARING SO THAT THE PUBLIC CAN ACCESS IT AS WELL AND HAVE A EASY PLACE TO GO FOR THAT.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO CONGRATULATE COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN AND MAYOR TURNER ON THE IMPLEMENTATION.
AS A REMINDER, THIS WEEK, THE CHANGES TO THE NOISE ORDINANCE WENT INTO EFFECT FOR BARS AND OTHER VENUES THAT ARE USING AMPLIFIED SOUND IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
AGAIN, HOPEFULLY THIS NOT ONLY BRINGS, UM, SOME RELIEF TO THE STRESSES AND QUALITY OF LIFE, UH, THAT RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING, BUT ALSO, UH, MAKING IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER ON LAW ENFORCEMENT, UH, BY, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW IT IS A DRAIN ON, ON RESOURCES EVERY TIME THEY'RE HAVING TO RESPOND TO CALLS, NOISE COMPLAINTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, AND THEY'RE REAL ISSUES.
I DON'T WANNA DIMINISH IT, BUT, UM, HOPEFULLY THAT WILL HELP A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE LONG RUN.
AND A BIG THANK YOU, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, UH, THINK THE MEETING, UH, YESTERDAY WENT REALLY WELL.
UM, OUR CENTRAL DIVISION BROUGHT TOGETHER A LOT OF THE BARS TO START, UH, TALKING ABOUT THE ORDINANCE, AND I THINK THEY'RE GONNA START COMMUNITY MEETINGS WITH BAR OWNERS TO FOSTER THAT RELATIONSHIP.
I ALSO, UH, WANTED TO REMIND THE PUBLIC NATIONAL NIGHT OUT WILL BE ON OCTOBER 4TH THIS YEAR.
UM, DISCLAIMER, FOR SOME OF US, IT UNFORTUNATELY FALLS ON YOM KIPPUR THE NIGHT OF K NIDRE.
UH, SO SOME OF US ON COUNCIL, UM, AND STAFF WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE,
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BUT IT'S ALWAYS A TERRIFIC EVENT.UH, AND WHILE, UH, NOT NECESSARILY GERMANE TO THIS COMMITTEE, I THINK I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE, UH, THE PASSING OF, UH, QUEEN ELIZABETH, UH, JUST A FEW HOURS AGO, UH, AS THE LONGEST REIGNING MONARCH IN ENGLAND'S HISTORY, SERVING SEVEN DECADES.
UH, YOU KNOW, BEGINNING HER, HER REIGN AT 25.
UH, I THINK IT'S A HISTORICAL MOMENT IN, UH, MAY HER MEMORY BE A BLESSING.
ALRIGHT, UH, BACK TO THE BUSINESS.
UH, JUST A QUICK BACKGROUND ON HER.
UH, SHE'S A RESEARCH HISTORIAN IN THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, AND A NON-RESIDENT SCHOLAR AT UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON'S BAKER INSTITUTE.
COHEN'S WORK FOCUSES ON ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE, ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY, TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS, AND THE PUBLIC.
SHE IS ALSO THE AUTHOR OF THE 2017 BOOK, THE GRID BIOGRAPHY OF AN AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY, WHICH IS ONE OF THE FOREMOST WORKS ON THE HISTORY OF ELECTRIFICATION AND ELECTRICAL INTERCONNECTEDNESS IN THE US.
UH, AND BEFORE I RECOGNIZE, UH, DR. COHEN, I DID ALSO WANNA TO NOTE THAT STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER PLUMMER'S OFFICE IS HERE AS WELL.
UH, WITH THAT CHAIR RECOGNIZES DR.
JULIE, IF YOU CAN HEAR JULIE, IF YOU CAN HEAR, IF YOU CAN HEAR, IF YOU CAN HEAR US, JUST UNMUTE AND YOU CAN BEGIN YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN FOR INVITING ME TO SPEAK TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE.
UM, AS ALL OF YOU'RE DISCUSSING HOW TO SAFEGUARD HOUSTONIANS AGAINST FUTURE POWER INTERRUPTIONS, I THOUGHT I'D TAKE A LITTLE BIT, TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE GOT TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
MY DISCUSSION WILL COVER VERY, VERY BRIEFLY A REVIEW OF WHAT HAPPENED DURING WINTER STORM URI ELECTRIFICATION IN TEXAS, THE REGULATORY SYSTEMS THAT FRAME OUR POWER NETWORK, ERCOT AND GRID STABILITY, HOW THE STATE LEGISLATURE RESPONDED TO THE 2021 POWER OUTAGES AND WHERE YOU MAY WANT TO ADDRESS CONCERNS GOING FURTHER.
AS EVERYONE HERE, NO DOUBT REMEMBERS, THINGS WENT VERY BADLY FOR US IN FEBRUARY OF 2021.
IT GOT VERY, VERY COLD ACROSS ALL OF TEXAS, AND THE RESULTS WERE DEVASTATING.
I'VE LISTED HERE SOME OF THE REPORTED EXPERIENCES, AND I'M SURE MUCH OF THIS IS STILL FRESH IN THE MEMORIES OF EVERYBODY PARTICIPATING IN THIS MEETING.
SO, WHY DID WE HAVE THESE POWER OUTAGES AND WHY WERE SOME POWER GENERATORS AND NATURAL GAS PROVIDERS ABLE TO CHARGE SUCH HIGH RATES? IMPORTANTLY, OUR POWER OUTAGES WERE CALLED CONTROLLED OUTAGES.
THAT IS, THEY DID NOT RESULT FROM THE KIND OF BLACKOUT THAT IS KNOWN AS A CASCADING POWER FAILURE.
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE.
THE FAMOUS NORTHEAST BLACKOUTS OF 19 65, 19 77 AND 2003 WERE ALL CASCADING FAILURES.
ONE SMALL THING WENT WRONG AND TRIGGERED A SERIES OF UNCONTROLLABLE EVENTS THAT LEFT TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE DARK.
IN FEBRUARY OF 2021, ERCOT MADE A DECISION TO CURTAIL POWER DELIVERY IN ORDER TO AVOID A MUCH, MUCH WORSE CASCADING FAILURE.
AND WHILE IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE, I'M GLAD WE DIDN'T HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT THAT WOULD'VE BEEN LIKE.
SO, WHAT DID HAPPEN, OH, I'M SORRY.
CAN YOU BACK UP ONCE TO THE PRIOR SLIDE? UM, THERE WERE BOTH PROXIMATE CAUSES AND POLICIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THOSE CAUSES.
ALL OF THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN COVERED BY NUMEROUS STUDIES AND NEWS REPORTS, SO I'LL JUST MAKE THESE MAJOR POINTS.
IT WAS COLDER ACROSS MORE OF THE STATE FOR LONGER THAN IN RECORDED HISTORY, AND ERCOT DID NOT PLAN FOR THOSE CONDITIONS.
DEMAND WAS HIGHER THAN ANTICIPATED WHILE GENERATION DROPPED OFF THE GRID AT AN UNPRECEDENTED RATE, CAUSING THE FREQUENCY TO DROP BELOW SAFE LEVELS WITHOUT REQUIREMENTS FOR WINTERIZATION OR FOR DESIGNATION OF NATURAL GAS FUEL SUPPLIERS.
AS CRITICAL POWER CUSTOMERS, GENERATORS OF ALL TYPES FROZE AND MANY HAD NO FUEL TO OPERATE.
AND FINALLY, THE STRUCTURE OF THE VARIOUS POWER AND NATURAL GAS MARKETS IN OUR STATE BY DESIGN ALLOWED THOSE WHO COULD DELIVER ENERGY TO CHARGE EXORBITANT PRICES DURING THE STORM.
AND THE BLACKOUT ALSO BROUGHT OUR RELATIVELY OBSCURE ISOLATED GRID TO THE ATTENTION OF THE PUBLIC.
AND NOW PLEASE, THE NEXT SLIDE.
THIS BRINGS US TO OUR EXCEPTIONAL AND IN SOME WAYS TYPICAL POWER SYSTEMS. HERE IN TEXAS, TEXAS HAS ONE OF FOUR
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DISTINCT GIANT INTERCONNECTED SYSTEMS IN NORTH AMERICA.AS DEPICTED ON THIS MAP, NOTE THAT THE SHAPE OF OUR STATE AND THE SHAPE OF THE ERCOT SYSTEM ARE NOT THE SAME POWER CUSTOMERS ALONG THE SOME OF OUR BORDERS OBTAIN ELECTRICITY FROM TEXAS COMPANIES THAT ARE PART OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN INTERCONNECTIONS.
THE VERY, VERY SHORT HISTORY OF ELECTRIFICATION IN TEXAS AND HOUSTON GOES AS FOLLOWS.
BEGINNING IN THE 1880S, MUNICIPALITIES AND ENTREPRENEURS STARTED POWER COMPANIES, AND AT FIRST THERE WAS A LOT OF COMPETITION AND NO REGULATION.
AND AS ILLUSTRATED IN THIS CARTOON OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON IN 1905, THIS CREATED ALL KINDS OF PROBLEMS. OVER TIME, INVESTOR OWNED COMPANIES GREW INTO MONOPOLY UTILITIES AND BEGAN INTERCONNECTING WITH EACH OTHER TO ACCESS BIGGER MARKETS AND DISTANT ENERGY RESOURCES TO ACHIEVE ECONOMIES OF SCALE.
MOST STATES REGULATED ELECTRIC UTILITIES BY 1920, BUT NOT TEXAS.
WITHIN TEXAS, SEVERAL UTILITIES ALONG THE BORDERS CHOSE TO LINK WITH COMPANIES IN OTHER STATES AND STILL DO OTHERS.
HOWEVER, FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, ULTIMATELY CHOSE TO INTERCONNECT ONLY WITH OTHER TEXAS COMPANIES.
AND AS A RESULT, TODAY, TEXAS IS THE ONLY STATE IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES WITH AN ENTIRELY AUTONOMOUS GRID.
TEXAS IS UNIQUE IN SEVERAL OTHER WAYS.
WE WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO ESTABLISH COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL POWER MARKETS.
AND THESE HAVE UNIQUE FEATURES.
WE WERE ALSO ONE OF THE FIRST STATES TO ESTABLISH HARD GOALS FOR RENEWABLES.
AND I BELIEVE ONE OF THE VERY FEW STATES IN RECENT DECADES TO SUCCESSFULLY BUILD THOUSANDS OF MILES OF NEW HIGH VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINES THAT ACTUALLY FACILITATED THE GROWTH OF WIND POWER WE'RE ALSO UNIQUE IN DISTRIBUTING THE COST OF THOSE NEW POWER LINES EQUALLY TO EVERY CUSTOMER WHO CONNECTS TO THE ERCOT GRID.
THE REGULATORY STRUCTURE IN THE UNITED STATES FRAMES OUR POWER SYSTEMS IN COMPLEX WAYS.
AND SADLY, WHERE IT SAYS US, THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A VERY PRETTY AMERICAN FLAG, BUT IT DIDN'T COME THROUGH.
THE REGULATORY STRUCTURE IN THE UNITED STATES FRAMES OUR POWER SYSTEMS, AS I SAID.
AND THIS CHART ILLUSTRATES THE DIFFERENT ROLES PLAYED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVERALL AND THE STATE GOVERNMENT IN TEXAS.
BRIEFLY, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REGULATES INTERSTATE WHOLESALE POWER TRANSACTIONS, AND RELIABILITY ON THE BULK POWER SUPPLY EVERYWHERE.
THE STATE REGULATES THE TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS, AND ALSO RETAIL PRICES FOR CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE OF ERCOT.
AND ERCOT OPERATES THE GRID, WHICH IMPORTANTLY IT DOES NOT OWN.
ERCOT IS A MEMBER ORGANIZATION WITH RESPONSIBILITIES AND GOVERNANCE DELINEATED BY STATE LAW.
AS THE GRID OPERATOR ERCO T'S MOST IMPORTANT DUTY IS TO MAINTAIN SYSTEM STABILITY AND RELIABILITY.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? IT MEANS THAT EVERY TIME YOU OR I FLIP A SWITCH TO TURN ON A LIGHT, THE LIGHT GOES ON, OR THE MACHINE STARTS.
AND IN ADDITION, THE POWER WILL ARRIVE IN THE RIGHT MOUNT AMOUNT, AT THE RIGHT VOLTAGE, AND AT THE RIGHT FREQUENCY.
AND THERE ARE A COUPLE OF KEY FUNCTIONS AMONG MANY THAT ERCOT PERFORMS TO MAKE SURE THIS HAPPENS.
ERCOT ASSURES THAT THE AMOUNT OF GENERATION AVAILABLE AT ANY MOMENT MATCHES THE AMOUNT OF DEMAND OR LOAD AT THAT SAME MOMENT.
LOOKING AT THE SCREENSHOT OF PART OF ERCOT DASHBOARD, THE IMAGE ON THE LEFT SHOWS HOW CLOSE THE MATCH IS BETWEEN GENERATION AND DEMAND.
ERCOT ALSO ASSURES THAT FREQUENCY ACROSS THE GRID NEVER DEVIATES MORE THAN A FRACTION FROM 60 HERTZ.
THE CHART AT THE RIGHT ILLUSTRATES THE FREQUENCY ON THE GRID IN REAL TIME.
IF THE FREQUENCY DEVIATES TOO MUCH, THE GRID WILL BE UNSTABLE, AND THE RISK OF AN UNCONTROLLED POWER FAILURE INCREASES.
THESE ARE RELATED MATTERS, AND PERHAPS THIS ANALOGY WILL HELP CONSIDER HORSES PULLING A LOAD.
THE DRIVER WANTS TO DELIVER THE LOAD ALL IN ONE PIECE AND WANTS THE HORSES TO TRAVEL AT A STEADY PACE, ADD MORE LOAD, AND THE HORSES SLOW DOWN, ADD TOO MUCH, AND THEY'LL STOP, TAKE THE LOAD AWAY, AND THE HORSES SPEED UP, TAKE IT AWAY SUDDENLY.
AND THE HORSES MIGHT BOLT THE DRIVER, LIKE THE GRID OPERATOR SENDS SIGNALS TO SLOW DOWN OR SPEED UP IN ORDER TO RETURN TO THE DESIRED PACE.
THUS, KEEPING SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN BALANCE IS LINKED TO KEEPING THE FREQUENCY AT 60 HERTZ.
THE MIDDLE METER ON THE ERCOT DASHBOARD TELLS US WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S ENOUGH EXTRA POWER ON STANDBY, WHICH IS CALLED SPINNING RESERVE TO MEET RISING DEMAND OR TO ADDRESS A MAJOR FREQUENCY DEVIATION.
SO WHAT CAN BE DONE IF THERE'S A MISMATCH? ERCOT CAN EITHER DIRECT GENERATORS TO ADJUST HOW MUCH POWER THEY DELIVER TO THE GRID, OR ASK CUSTOMERS TO ADJUST HOW MUCH POWER THEY ARE USING, AND ERCOT DOES BOTH.
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PLEASE.HOW DID OUR COMPLEX REGULATORY SYSTEM RESPOND TO THE HORRIFIC RESULTS OF WINTER STORM URI? THE STATE LEGISLATURE PASSED AND THE GOVERNOR SIGNED NINE DIFFERENT LAWS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE POWER AND NATURAL GAS SYSTEMS WITHIN TEXAS.
THESE LAWS ADDRESS GOVERNANCE MARKETS, WINTERIZATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING AND COST RECOVERY.
AND I NOTICED THAT, UH, MON MY AUGUST, UH, ELECTRICAL BILL.
I'M NOW PAYING FOR THE, UH, DEBT FOR THE EXTREMELY HIGH CHARGES THAT WERE MADE DURING FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR.
MAYBE THE REST OF YOU HAVE NOTICED THE SAME.
UM, THE PUC, THE RAILROAD COMMISSION IN ERCOT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CARRYING OUT THE NEW LAWS.
THE POC ISSUED A BLUEPRINT FOR REDESIGNING ASPECTS OF THE POWER MARKETS IN DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR, AND THIS PROCESS IS STILL UNDERWAY.
ALSO, THE POC REQUIRED GENERATORS TO WINTERIZE EQUIPMENT LAST WINTER, AND THEY DID.
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION ISSUED RULES REGARDING WINTERIZING NATURAL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE JUST THIS PAST MONTH AND INSPECTIONS WILL BE REQUIRED IN 2023 BECAUSE SO MANY ELEMENTS OF THE NEW LAWS ARE STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT.
HOWEVER, WE DON'T YET KNOW IF THEY'RE SUFFICIENT, AND WE MAY NOT REALLY KNOW UNTIL THE NEXT EXTREME WEATHER EVENT.
SO, IN CLOSING, I THOUGHT I'D REPRISE THE WHO, WHAT DOES TO WHOM SCENARIO OF ELECTRIFICATION IN TEXAS.
THE LEGISLATURE ESTABLISHES THE FRAMEWORK FOR ALL ASPECTS OF OUR POWER SYSTEM, THE PUC PROMULGATES, THE RESULTING REGULATIONS, ERCOT OPERATES THE GRID, AND IMPORTANTLY CONDUCTS TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND PLANNING THAT INFORMS HOW WELL OUR SYSTEM WORKS.
CENTER POINT FROM WHOM YOU'LL BE HEARING SHORTLY OPERATES THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK IN HOUSTON.
AND AS A REMINDER, HOUSTON POWER CUSTOMERS SELECT THEIR ELECTRICITY PROVIDERS IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET, WHICH DETERMINES THE COST OF ENERGY FOR EACH RATE PAYER.
I LOOK FORWARD TO ANSWERING ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE, AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR INCLUDING ME IN THE MEETING.
UM, AT THIS TIME, UH, WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN.
FIRST IN QI DO WANNA RECOGNIZE ONLINE WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER EVAN SHABAZZ JOINING US AND STAFF FROM, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ROBINSON'S OFFICE, I SHOULD SAY CHAIR ROBINSON IN THIS CONTEXT BECAUSE OF THE VERY, VERY CLOSE NEXUS BETWEEN, UM, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY AND THE TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE.
SO WE APPRECIATE HIS PARTNERSHIP.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, DR. COHEN.
I, I, I'M TELLING YOU THAT WAS PROBABLY THE BEST SUMMATION OF, OF EVERYTHING, THAT THERE WAS A STEEP LEARNING CURVE FOR US, UM, IN FEBRUARY OF 21, REALLY LEARNING ALL ABOUT IT.
BUT THAT WAS JUST REALLY A PERFECT CONCISE EXPLANATION OF A VERY COMPLICATED TOPIC.
I, UH, I KNOW I CAN GO BACK AND WATCH THE RECORDING, BUT IF THERE'S A WAY YOU COULD PART WITH YOUR, UM, NARRATION, UM, MAYBE SEND TO THE CHAIR.
TO HAVE, UM, TO, TO GO BACK TO THE SLIDES, I DID WANNA ASK YOU ABOUT THE, THE, UH, WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU TALKED ABOUT THE HOW WE'RE WE'RE OWN GRID HERE IN TEXAS, WHICH WE HEARD A LOT ABOUT AFTER THE FREEZE.
WE DO, DO YOU, DO WE HAVE A BETTER MIX OF RENEWABLES IN OUR GRID THAN THE OTHER ESTABLISHED GRIDS? TEXAS ACTUALLY HAS THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF RENEWABLES WITHIN OUR GRID OF ANY OTHER, UM, PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
AND THAT INCLUDES SOLAR POWER, WIND POWER, HYDROELECTRICITY.
I DON'T, YEAH, BUT IT INCLUDES ALL THREE OF THOSE.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGIES, UM, THEY HAVE THEIR OWN DASHBOARD.
IF YOU LOOK AT THEIR DASHBOARD TO SEE WHO'S THE TOP, UH, POWER PRODUCER FROM RENEWABLES, IT'S TEXAS.
SO, 'CAUSE THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK ABOUT THE NEED TO JOIN OTHER, OTHER GRIDS, BUT, YOU KNOW, ESSENTIALLY WE'D BE GETTING KIND OF A, A, A LESS GREEN MIX BY DOING THAT.
IS THAT A FAIR STATEMENT? I SAY, YOU WANT ME TO PUT THIS IN TRUNK OR YOU WANT ME TO PUT IT IN HIS? HE WAS, OH, I DON'T CARE.
HE WAS LIKE, MIND, GIVE US ONE SECOND WHILE WE MUTE.
THAT'S
UM, SO I GUESS, UH, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT WOULD NECESSARILY AFFECT ON A DAILY BASIS HOW MANY, HOW WHAT PERCENT OF OUR POWER IS COMING FROM RENEWABLES AT OUR ELECTRICAL OUTLETS, UM, BECAUSE THAT'S REALLY DETERMINED BY FACTORS BEYOND, UH, WHAT YOU WERE DESCRIBING.
BUT, UM, THERE ARE OTHER ISSUES RELATED TO INTERCONNECTING WITH EITHER THE EASTERN OR WESTERN GRIDS BEYOND RENEWABLES THAT ARE PRETTY COMPLICATED THAT HAVE TO DO WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW THE GRID IS OPERATED, HOW,
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UH, WE PURCHASE AND SELL ELECTRICITY.THERE COULD BE ENORMOUS BENEFITS IN SOME WAYS TO THE STATE BY HAVING THOSE CONNECTIONS.
THERE COULD BE SOME CHALLENGES.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF THERE WAS A MAJOR POWER OUTAGE IN LOUISIANA, THEY COULD LEAN ON US TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY TO THEM, WHICH, YOU KNOW, IS A GOOD NEIGHBORLY THING TO DO, BUT IT'S, IT CREATES SOME OPERATING, UM, DEMANDS.
UM, AND ALSO THERE ARE WOULD BE A NEED FOR VERY LONG POWER LINES TO CONNECT AN ELECTRICALLY STRONG PART OF ERCOT TO ELECTRICALLY STRONG PARTS OF EITHER THE OTHER GRIDS.
AND, UM, AS SOME OF US HAVE BECOME ACUTELY AWARE IN RECENT YEARS, THERE'S A LOT OF PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO LARGE SCALE POWER, UH, ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING POWER LINES.
SO THAT WOULD BE A VERY LONG-TERM PROSPECT.
SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S AN INTERESTING THING TO THINK ABOUT AND IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT AND, AND EVALUATE WHAT THE BENEFITS ARE TO TEXAS, BUT IT DOESN'T OFFER US ANY SHORT-TERM SOLUTIONS.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS FROM STAFF AT THIS TIME? OKAY.
UH, DR. COHEN, I HAD A FEW QUICK QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
UM, HERE IN HOUSTON, WE TALK A LOT ABOUT HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS, RIGHT? THAT, THAT'S VERY CONSISTENTLY IN OUR VERNACULAR.
UM, IN TERMS OF ONE, THE PREPAREDNESS PRIOR TO THE WINTER STORM, UM, HOW WOULD YOU SAY ERCOT AND OTHER ENTITIES AT THE STATE LEVEL HAD DONE IN TERMS OF PREPAREDNESS? UM, I'M GONNA ANSWER IN TWO DIFFERENT WAYS BECAUSE THE FIRST PART HAS TO DO WITH SORT OF THE LONG-TERM PLANNING ON THE PART OF ERCOT.
AND, UM, WHEN I LOOKED AT THE, THE PLAN THAT WAS RELEASED IN NOVEMBER, THE ASSESSMENT OF HOW THINGS WOULD GO DURING THE WINTER, ERCOT WAS PROJECTING THAT THERE WOULD BE PLENTY OF POWER, UM, FOR THE EXPECTED WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE WINTER AND THE EXPECTED DEMAND.
UM, AND THEY BASE THAT ON MODELS THAT, FROM WHAT I COULD TELL, UM, LOOK AT AVERAGES OF EXTREME WEATHER IN THE PAST AS OPPOSED TO THE SINGLE WORST WINTER DAY OF THE PAST, OR THE SINGLE HIGHEST DEMAND EVER ON THE GRID.
UH, WHAT WE EXPERIENCED WAS A WEATHER EVENT THAT WAS OUTSIDE PAST EXPERIENCE AND THEREFORE WASN'T CONTEMPLATED IN THEIR PLANS.
UM, SO THAT TO ME SUGGESTS THAT WE MIGHT WANNA ASK ERCOT AND OTHERS WHO PLAN THESE, WHO ADDRESS THESE MATTERS TO RECONSIDER THE KIND OF MODELING THEY USE AND HELP US PREPARE FOR WHAT MIGHT BE CONTINUING EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS IN THE FUTURE.
UM, RELATED TO THAT, ARE THE RELIABILITY REQUIREMENTS THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IMPOSES AND ALSO THAT, UM, THOSE THAT CONNECT TO THE GRID HAVE TO MEET IN ORDER TO BE PART OF THE ERCOT SYSTEM.
AND I BELIEVE THAT ENTITIES AT ALL THOSE LEVELS ARE NOW TRYING TO ADDRESS SOME SHORTCOMINGS IN THOSE AREAS.
BUT AT THAT TIME, IN NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR, THERE WAS NOT A HARD AND FAST REQUIREMENT FOR GENERATORS TO BE WINTERIZED, NOR WAS THERE ANY REQUIREMENT FOR NATURAL GAS PROVIDERS TO BE WINTERIZED.
AND AS WE LEARNED, THAT WAS, UM, A PROBLEM, A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR US IN THE VERY SHORT RUNUP TO THE ACTUAL EVENTS OF, UM, THE WINTER STORMS. THERE WERE NOTIFICATIONS THAT A WINTER STORM WAS COMING, BUT I WONDER IF IN THE FUTURE WE WOULD WANT, UM, THE KIND OF PREPARATION THAT IS MORE ON THE SCALE OF WHAT THE CITY, THE COUNTY, AND THE STATE DO WHEN A HURRICANE IS COMING.
LIKE SETTING UP THE WARMING CENTERS, GETTING TRANSPORTATION IN PLACE TO MOVE PEOPLE IF NECESSARY.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE ON A LONG-TERM BASIS, HELPING PEOPLE INSULATE THEIR HOMES.
SO IF IT'S VERY COLD FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD, IT WON'T BE AS CHALLENGING TO STAY WARM.
SO THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS MORE AS A CITIZEN THAN AN EXPERT IN TERMS OF PREPARING FOR THAT KIND OF VISA SCENARIO.
YEAH, AND WE'LL CERTAINLY HEAR FROM OEM ON EVERYTHING THEY'RE DOING TO PREPARE, BUT I THINK, UM, THE MODELING POINT IS IMPORTANT, RIGHT? BECAUSE WE'RE NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE WINTER STORM.
THE REASON I REQUESTED THIS HEARING WAS ALSO THE UPTICK IN, UM, EXTREME HEAT THAT WE'RE SEEING.
AND AS CLIMATE PATTERNS CHANGE AND BECOME MORE EXTREME, ARE, ARE WE RELYING ON THOSE, ON THE APPROPRIATE MODELS IN PREPARATION FOR THAT? SO AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S AN OUTSTANDING QUESTION, BUT I APPRECIATE YOU FLAGGING IT.
UM, YOU TALKED ABOUT THE CHANGES THAT HAVE COME FORWARD AT THE LEGISLATURE, AND I'M, I'M REALLY HAPPY TO SEE A LOT OF THOSE.
WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT YOU MAY BE AWARE OF THAT HAVE NOT BEEN CHANGED THAT WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF? WELL, AS I MENTIONED, UM, THE, THE REQUIREMENT FOR WEATHERIZING NATURAL GAS, UH, FACILITIES THAT PROVIDE NATURAL GAS TO THE POWER NETWORK,
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UM, THOSE REQUIREMENTS WERE RECENTLY ISSUED BY THE RAILROAD COMMISSION, BUT THEY WON'T TAKE EFFECT TILL THE WINTER.THEY WON'T, THE RAILROAD COMMISSION, I THINK UNDER THE LAW IS OBLIGED TO INSPECT THOSE FACILITIES IN 19, IN 2023.
SO WE DON'T KNOW YET WHICH FACILITIES IN PARTICULAR WILL BE REQUIRED TO WINTERIZE WHETHER THOSE ARE GOING TO BE SUFFICIENT.
UM, ONE OF THE, THE, THE LAWS PASSED LASTS A YEAR AGO, UM, CALLED FOR THE CREATION OF A MAPPING COMMITTEE THAT PUT TOGETHER AN INFRASTRUCTURE MAP SHOWING ALL OF THE ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, POWER, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND RELATED NATURAL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE STATE.
AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE REQUIREMENT WILL BE THAT THE LARGE NATURAL GAS PROVIDERS WHO ARE, WHO APPEAR ON THAT MAP WILL BE THE ONES AFFECTED BY THIS, UH, REGULATION.
BUT AS I ALSO UNDERSTAND, THAT MAP IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC SCRUTINY.
SO AGAIN, WE WON'T BE ABLE TO JUDGE WHETHER OR NOT THIS WILL BE SUFFICIENT UNTIL, UNTIL NEXT YEAR.
AND THAT I WOULD THINK WOULD BE OF CONCERN.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ALL RIGHT.
DR. COHEN, THANK YOU FOR MAKING TIME WITH US.
UM, OUR SECOND PRESENTATION WILL BE FROM, UH, JASON FABRE, UH, AGAIN, WHO IS THE DIRECTOR OF LOCAL REGULATORY AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS FOR CENTERPOINT, ALONG WITH, UH, DAVID MERCADO, UH, CENTERPOINT'S DIRECTOR FOR TIME OPERATIONS.
AND AT THIS TIME, UM, I RECOGNIZE YOU BOTH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
THANK YOU, AND GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU TODAY.
MUCH OF THIS INFORMATION YOU ALREADY KNOW FOR THIS DISCUSSION, WE'RE GONNA CONCENTRATE ON THE YELLOW AND RED AREAS, WHICH REPRESENT OUR ROUGHLY 5,000 SQUARE MILE AREA THAT WE SERVE CUSTOMERS, BOTH NATURAL GAS AND ELECTRICITY.
THE YELLOW ACTUALLY REPRESENTS THE COMMON NATURAL GAS AND ELECTRIC FOOTPRINT IN THE RED.
IT'S AN ELECTRIC ONLY SERVICE AREA.
WE SERVICE, UH, ABOUT 2.6 MILLION ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS IN THIS FOOTPRINT WHERE WE OWN AND MAINTAIN 4,000 MILES OF TRANSMISSION IN 55,000 MILES OF DISTRIBUTION LINES.
NOW, THE RED AND YELLOW AREAS ALSO REPRESENT ABOUT ROUGHLY 5% OF THE LAND MASS OF TEXAS, BUT IT'S 25% OF ERCOT TOTAL LOAD.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF ENERGY IN IN THAT AREA IN A VERY DENSE AREA.
YOU LOOK AT THESE SEGMENTED LINES, THEY REPRESENT 10 YEAR PERIODS, THE NINE EIGHTIES, NINE ISH 2000.
I THINK A FEW TIMES YOU'VE HEARD STORMS ARE BECOMING MORE FREQUENT AND WITH HIGHER INTENSITY.
WELL, ALL OF THESE STORMS ARE DIFFERENT.
THEY'RE ALL UNIQUE IN NATURE, RIGHT? AND WE HAVE DIFFERENT TOOLS AND WE HAVE TO ADAPT OUR SYSTEM AND OR RESPOND IN A DIFFERENT WAY EACH TIME.
HURRICANE IKE WAS A WIND EVENT.
HARVEY WAS A WATER EVENT, AND THE WINTER STORM WAS A COLD WEATHER EVENT.
SO, UH, IT IMPACTED OUR SYSTEM IN DIFFERENT WAYS EACH TIME.
SPEAKING TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, SAFETY'S OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY.
IT'S ACTUALLY ONE OF OUR CORE VALUES, AND WE CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR THE WEATHER AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO OUR PLAN SO THAT WE CAN SERVICE OUR CUSTOMERS IN THE MOST RELIABLE AND EFFICIENT WAY POSSIBLE.
IN EVENT OF ANY DAMAGE TO OUR SYSTEM, UH, WE HAVE TO ASSIST OUR SYSTEM IN DETERMINE WHAT RESOURCES I NEED TO RESTORE IT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, OR WE'LL HAVE OUR CREWS WORK DAY AND NIGHT TO RESTORE, RESTORE THE SYSTEM AS CLOSELY TO NORMAL OR AS ORIGINAL CONFIGURATION AS POSSIBLE.
UH, AND WE ARE PREPARING FOR EVENTS LONG BEFORE THAT HAPPEN, AND WE HAVE A VERY EXTENSIVE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN THAT WHERE THE COMPANY, UH, WE BASICALLY ORGANIZE FOR A DIFFERENT TYPE OF OPERATION.
YOU KNOW, ACCOUNTANTS BECOME, UH, LOGISTICS WORKERS AND ENGINEERS BECOMES INSPECTORS TO GO OUT AND INSPECT OUR SYSTEM TO HELP.
AND THIS, THIS APPLIES UNDER EMERGENCY AND NON EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.
I WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, SO WE USE ALL AVENUES.
WE, WE UTILIZE ALL AVENUES, UH, TRADITIONAL OUTLETS, SOCIAL MEDIA, DIGITAL CHANNELS, WE REACH, THERE'S A LOT OF OUTREACH TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS THAT GO INTO THIS.
YOU LOOK AT THE LIST FROM THE PUC, UM, TO OTHER LOCAL UTILITIES THAT WE WORK CLOSELY WITH.
AND WHEN WE DO ACTIVATE OUR EOP, WE HAVE, UM, LIAISONS THAT ENGAGE WITH THE LOCAL OEMS FOR ALL OF THE COUNTIES AND, UH, THE CITY AS WELL.
AND AS YOU KNOW, WE MAINTAIN OWN IT.
WE MAINTAIN A 24 HOUR TELEPHONE SERVICE.
[00:30:02]
THIS IS KINDA WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE DURING THE EOP EVENT WHEN UNDER OUR ICS STRUCTURE, OUR, WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN EXECUTIVE ASSIGNED AS THE, UM, THE GOVERNMENT LIAISON LEADER, THAT, THAT LEADER DISSEMINATES INFORMATION TO ALL OF THE INDIVIDUALS ASSIGNED TO THE VARIOUS OEMS. YOU SEE THAT CITY OF HOUSTON'S ACTUALLY A BLOCK.I'M THE LIAISON TO THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
SO I ACTUALLY MOVED BACK TO HOUSTON TWO DAYS BEFORE THE WINTER STORM, WHICH I GOT TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH DIRECTOR BUNICH AND, UH, TOMEZ THERE.
SO WE, WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER THAT WEEK.
NEXT SLIDE NOW TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, AND I APOLOGIZE, I DIDN'T INVITE MY CO-PRESENTER, UH, DAVID MERCADO.
UH, HE RUNS OUR REAL TIME OPERATION, BUT HE'S GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT OUR SYSTEMS PROCESSES AND, UH, SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT FACES.
MY NAME IS, UH, DAVID MERCADO.
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF REAL-TIME OPERATIONS FOR CENTER POINT ENERGY.
MY TEAM IS THE TEAM THAT MANAGES CONTROLS, OPERATES, AND MONITORS THE TRANSMISSION GRID FOR CENTER POINT ENERGY.
UM, WHEN THERE IS A GRID EVENT, UM, OUR OPERATORS ARE THE FIRST ONES TO GET THE CALL FROM MERT THAT THERE IS AN IMMINENT EMERGENCY CONDITION.
UH, WE JUST WANTED TO TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TODAY TO TALK ABOUT, UH, THE PROGRESSION OF A LOAD.
SHE EVENT, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT CENTER POINT ENERGY AS A TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION UTILITY, UM, AND SOME OF THE TOOLS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO US TO, TO BETTER MITIGATE, UH, THE, THESE TYPE OF EMERGENCY CONDITIONS.
UM, I DO WANT TO KIND OF HIGHLIGHT, I'M SURE EVERYONE IS AWARE, BUT JUST I WANNA TAKE THESE OPPORTUNITIES TO HIGHLIGHT THAT CENTER POINT ENERGY IS STRICTLY A, A, A WIRES COMPANY, A TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION UTILITY.
WE DON'T OWN GENERATION, WE DON'T CONTROL AND MANAGE GENERATION.
WE'RE REALLY DEPENDENT, UH, ON ERCOT FOR THAT SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.
UM, SO IN EVENTS LIKE WINTER STORM, MI, UM, THE TIGHT GRID CONDITIONS, UH, THIS SUMMER, THOSE WERE ALL GENERATION SHORTFALL EVENTS WHERE RESERVE WAS REALLY TIGHT.
UM, SO WE, WE REALLY WORK CLOSELY WITH ERCOT TO HAVE THAT SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.
UM, SO I WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT CENTERPOINT DOES CONTROL, UM, SPEC SPECIFICALLY DURING AN EMERGENCY CONDITION, UM, DUE TO GENERATION SHORTFALL.
UM, SO I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, THE THREE STAGES OF A LOAD SHED EVENT.
FIRST, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO US PRIOR TO ERCOT CALLING US A SHED LOAD, THE THINGS THAT WE DO DURING LOAD SHED, AND THEN AF WHILE WE'RE SHEDDING LOAD, HOW DO WE, UH, BETTER MANAGE THE ROTATION.
UM, SO THE FIRST ONE IS, IS LOAD MANAGEMENT.
THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE COULD DO PRIOR TO A LOAD SHED EVENT.
AND, UM, I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT SOME, SOME NEW TOOLS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO US SINCE WINTER STORM URI.
UM, ONE OF 'EM IS OUR ENERGY EFFICIENCY LOAD MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
THIS, UH, WAS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE OUTCOMES FROM THE LEGISLATIVE, UH, THE RECENT LEGISLATIVE SESSION WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO EXPAND OUR LOAD MANAGEMENT PROGRAM TO COVER NOT ONLY SUMMER PERIODS, BUT ALSO THE WINTER PERIODS.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO ENROLL SOME ADDITIONAL CUSTOMERS TO, UH, ON A VOLUNTEER BASIS TO BE ABLE TO, UH, CURTAIL THEIR LOAD, UM, WHEN ERCOT GETS IN A, IN A TIGHT GRID CONDITION, BUT PRIOR TO A LOAD S**T EVENT, WE HAVE ABOUT 120 MEGAWATTS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO, TO CALL UPON TO COME OFF THE GRID, UM, IF WE'RE IN THIS TIGHT GRID CONDITION NOW IN THE WINTERTIME, PLUS THE SUMMERTIME.
SO THAT WAS A, A NEW TOOL THAT'S AVAILABLE TO US, UH, SINCE THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
UM, ANOTHER TOOL THAT'S AVAILABLE TO US TALKING ABOUT LOAD MANAGEMENT IS, UH, A PROGRAM THAT WE CALL CONSERVATION VOLTAGE REDUCTION.
UM, SO THIS IS WHERE WE INTENTIONALLY REDUCE THE VOLTAGE ON PREDETERMINED DISTRIBUTION FEEDERS, AND THAT RESULTS IN, UH, ALSO REDUCING THE DEMAND, THE LOAD.
SO POWER IS DIRECTLY, UH, UH, RELATED TO, UH, PROPORTIONAL TO VOLTAGE.
YOU LOWER VOLTAGE, YOU ALSO LOWER YOUR, YOUR, UH, YOUR POWER OUTPUT, OBVIOUSLY WITHIN OUR, UH, VOLTAGE LIMIT CRITERIA, UM, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT IS AVAILABLE TO US AS WELL.
WE WANT TO USE THAT, UM, JUDICIOUSLY, UM, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T LAST FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME.
SO WE KIND OF RESERVE THAT TO WHEN WE'RE REACHING THE PEAK HOURS OF THE EMERGENCY CONDITION.
UM, BUT THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WE COULD DO PRIOR TO A LOAD SHE EVENT.
UH, ONCE RESERVES, UH, GENERATION RESERVES START DROPPING BELOW A CERTAIN LEVEL, UM, SPECIFICALLY, UM, ONE OF THE EMERGENCY ALERT CONDITIONS, ER, ERCOT CALLS LEVEL THREE EEA LEVEL THREE, THAT'S WHEN THE RESERVES START DROPPING BELOW A THOUSAND MEGAWATTS, AND THEY DON'T THINK IT'S GONNA RECOVER ABOVE A THOUSAND FOR 30 MINUTES.
THEN ERCOT WILL INITIATE WHAT WE CALL EEA LEVEL THREE WITH LOAD.
SHE, SO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IS ALL THE CONTROL CENTERS ACROSS THE ERCOT FOOTPRINT, WE'LL GET A PHONE CALL ALL, ALL AT ONCE.
IT'S A RING DOWN HOTLINE CALL THAT ERCOT MANAGES, AND OUR OPERATORS WILL PICK UP THE PHONE AND ERCOT WILL GIVE US THAT INSTRUCTION THAT WE ARE IN EA LEVEL THREE.
AND, UM, THEY HAVE, UH, GIVE US A DIRECT OF HOW MUCH LOAD TO SHED.
THAT'S DIRECTION THAT WE GET FROM ERCOT.
UM, SO WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO, TO ALLOW OUR ADDITIONAL CAPABILITY FOR LOAD? SHE, UH, WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE DONE IS IN THE INSTALLATION OF I GSDS THAT STANDS FOR INTELLIGENT GRID SWITCHING DEVICES.
SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE DONE SINCE WINTER STORM ERIE, UM, TO, UH,
[00:35:01]
ENHANCE THE AMOUNT OF LOAD THAT'S AVAILABLE.UH, THE, THE WAY THESE WORK IS A, WE'RE PLACED THEM STRATEGICALLY ON CERTAIN DISTRIBUTION FEEDERS, UM, DOWNSTREAM OF A CRITICAL LOAD SUCH THAT WE CAN KEEP THE CRITICAL LOAD ONLINE, BUT ABLE TO, UM, SHED THE LOAD DOWNSTREAM OF, OF THE CRITICAL LOAD.
AND, UH, WE HAVE A THREE YEAR PROGRAM OF INSTALLATION OF THESE DEVICES.
WE'RE ABOUT 30% OF THE WAY THROUGH THERE.
SO THIS ALLOWS FOR ADDITIONAL LOAD THAT'S AVAILABLE FOR US TO SHED.
ONE OF THE CHALLENGES DURING WINTER STORM YEAR IS ERCOT CALL FOR SO MUCH LOAD TO BE SHED, WE JUST KIND OF RAN OUT OF HOW MUCH LOAD THAT WAS AVAILABLE.
SO IT, UH, PRESENTED A CHALLENGE FOR US TO ROTATE.
AND SO THIS IS A, A NEW TOOL THAT'S AVAILABLE TO US THAT WOULD GIVE US SOME ADDITIONAL FLEXIBILITY.
ALSO, THERE WAS A, UH, A RECENT ERCOT PROTOCOL, UM, REVISION.
THESE ARE THE GUYS IN PROTOCOLS THAT UTILITIES HAVE TO DESIGN FOR.
UH, THAT NOW ALLOWS US TO, UM, GRAB ADDITIONAL LOAD THAT WAS RESERVED FOR WHAT THEY CALL AN UNDER FREQUENCY LOAD SHED EVENT.
THIS IS A PRECIPITOUS DROP OF FREQUENCY, KIND OF WHAT DR. COHEN ALLUDED, ALLUDED TO.
UM, SO THEY HAVE A CERTAIN AUTOMATIC LOAD SHED BASED ON RELAY PROGRAMMING TO ADDRESS THOSE.
UM, AND IN THE PAST, WE, WE HAD TO RESERVE THAT, THOSE LOADS FOR THAT PROGRAM.
NOW WE'RE ABLE TO GRAB EXCESS LOAD, UH, FROM THAT PROGRAM AND INCLUDE IT IN OUR LOAD.
SHE, SO NOW THERE'S ADDITIONAL LOAD THAT'S AVAILABLE TO US FOR LOAD.
SHE, AND WE HAVE, UH, CENTERPOINT HAS ACTUALLY AUTOMATED THAT PROCESS IN OUR AUTOMATED LOAD SHARE PROGRAM.
SO THAT'S SOME ADDITIONAL LOAD THAT'S AVAILABLE THAT GIVES US AND FREES UP, UH, CAPABILITIES FOR, FOR LOAD ROTATION.
SO THAT KIND OF BRINGS US NOW TO THE THIRD STAGE.
NOW WE'RE SHEDDING LOAD NOW WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE CAN EVENLY AND PREDICTABLY SHED LOAD, UM, TO GIVE THE CUSTOMERS A LITTLE BIT OF, OF A RESPITE, UM, IF, ESPECIALLY IF IT'S AN EXTENDED LOAD SHED EVENT LIKE WINTER STORM URI.
UM, THERE'S A FEW THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE AS WELL TO IMPROVE LOAD ROTATION CAPABILITIES.
UM, ONE OF 'EM IS THE, UH, ABILITY TO LEASE MOBILE GENERATION ACROSS OUR FOOTPRINT.
THIS IS ALSO BASED ON, UH, RECENT, UH, LEGISLATIVE, UH, RULE THAT PASSED THAT ALLOWED UTILITIES LIKE CENTER POINT ENERGY TO, TO LEASE MOBILE GENERATION TO BE ABLE TO, UM, USE THOSE FOR EVENTS LIKE A LOAD SHE EVENT OR WIDESPREAD OUTAGE TYPE EVENTS.
CURRENTLY HAVE ABOUT 500 MEGAWATTS, UM, AVAILABLE, UM, THAT'S GEOGRAPHICALLY DISPERSED THROUGHOUT OUR SYSTEM.
ONE THING I DO WANNA MENTION ABOUT THE MOBILE GEN IS, UM, IT NOT ONLY BENEFITS THE, THE CUSTOMER THAT'S DIRECTLY BEING SERVED BY THE MOBILE GEN, BUT IT, IT'S REALLY A SOCIETAL BENEFIT TO THE ENTIRE FOOTPRINT, UH, OF THE, THE CUSTOMER BASE OF, OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON, BECAUSE ONE MEGAWATT THAT IT'S BEING SERVED BY THE MOBILE GEN IS ONE LESS MEGAWATT THAT NEEDS TO BE SHED.
SO THERE'S REALLY A, A SOCIETAL BENEFIT.
UM, AND, AND CENTER POINTERS REALLY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THAT LEGISLATIVE RULE THAT PASSED LAST, LAST SESSION.
UM, AND THERE'S A FEW OTHER THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE.
THE IG SDS ALSO ALLOW FOR SOME ADDITIONAL LOAD ROTATION CAPABILITIES, UM, IN ADDITION TO THE FACT THAT WE CAN LEVERAGE, UM, SOME ADDITIONAL LOAD FROM, UH, THE UNDER FREQUENCY LOAD SHE BLOCK.
SO KIND OF IN A NUTSHELL, I KNOW I TALKED ABOUT A FEW FEW POINTS, BUT I JUST WANT TO KIND OF HIGHLIGHT THE FEW KEY THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE SINCE WINTER STORM ERIE THAT, UH, REALLY ALLOWS US TO BE, UM, MUCH BETTER PREPARED FOR, FOR THE NEXT EVENT.
UM, WITH THAT, I'LL OPEN IT UP FOR, FOR QUESTIONS.
WELL, SO IN TEAMWORK'S THE KEY, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WHICH IS TEAMWORK'S THE KEY AND EVERY EVENT IS DIFFERENT AND WE HAVE TO REACT IN A DIFFERENT WAY, SOMETIMES IN NEAR REAL TIME.
AND THE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS TEAM WORKS VERY CLOSELY WITH REAL TIME OPERATIONS, AND WE TAKE THAT INFORMATION AND SOMETIMES FORM IT UP AND WE TRANSFER THAT WE GET IT OVER TO YOUR OEM OFFICE AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN.
SO IT'S TYPICALLY WHEN I GET OFF A CALL WITH DAVID, I'M IMMEDIATELY CALLING, UH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OR THE DIRECTOR THERE AT OEM TO GIVE, TO PROVIDE THE UPDATES.
WE ALSO PARTICIPATE IN THE COORDINATION CALLS TO, AGAIN, UPDATE ALL DEPARTMENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY WHEN THAT OCCURS.
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND UH, JASON, THAT WAS A, A ROUGH LANDING COMING INTO HOUSTON, UH, TWO DAYS IN, AND THEN YOU HIT THE STORM, RIGHT? WE WE'RE, I'M SURE YOU WERE EXPECTING SOME HURRICANES OR SOMETHING, BUT, UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT.
AND BEFORE WE GO TO QUESTIONS, I ALSO WANNA RECOGNIZE, UM, BECAUSE Y'ALL TOUCHED ON IT, THE RELATIONSHIP THAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS WITH CENTERPOINT AND HOW CLOSELY WE ALL WORK TOGETHER AND APPRECIATE THAT RELATIONSHIP, SO GOTCHA.
UM, WITH THAT, UH, FIRST UP COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, THANK YOU, AND I'LL ECHO THAT.
PAUL LOCKE, UH, TAKES OUR CALLS ALL THE TIME AND RESPONDS REALLY QUICKLY, SO I APPRECIATE THAT.
I'M GONNA NEED YOU TO EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT IN, IN EASIER TERMS, THE INTELLIGENT GI GRID SWITCHING DEVICES.
AND YOU, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT, UM, UH, DOWN MAKING, HAVING THE LOAD GO DOWNSTREAM.
SO, UM, CURRENT, UH, PREVIOUSLY WITHOUT THESE INTELLIGENT, UH, GRID SWITCHING DEVICES, IF THERE WAS A DISTRIBUTION FEEDER, ESSENTIALLY IT'S OUR, OUR DISTRIBUTION LINE
[00:40:01]
THAT SERVES VARIOUS COMMUNITIES ALL TIED TO THE, THAT ONE, UH, DISTRIBUTION LINE.IF THERE WAS ONE CRITICAL LOAD THAT WAS ON THERE THAT, UM, CREATED A, AN EXEMPT, UH, DISTRIBUTION FEEDER, WE COULDN'T TOUCH THE ENTIRE FEEDER.
SO ALL THE CUSTOMERS ON THAT FEEDER WERE NOT ABLE TO BE INCLUDED.
UM, AS FAR AS OUR PRELIMINARY INTENT FOR LOAD SHED.
SO THE INSULATION OF AN INTELLIGENT SWITCHING DEVICE CAN BE PLACED BEHIND, UH, CRITICAL LOAD, AND WE CAN, UH, REMOTELY SWITCH THAT DISTRIBUTION FEEDER DOWNSTREAM OF THAT CRITICAL LOAD SO THAT WE CAN KEEP THE CRITICAL CUSTOMER ONLINE, BUT THEN ANY CUSTOMERS BEHIND THAT CAN BE SHED AND BE INCLUDED IN OUR LOAD SHE PROGRAM.
SO ESSENTIALLY IT OPENS UP THE BUCKET OF HOW MUCH LOAD WE CAN SHED BY BEING ABLE TO DROP CUSTOMERS THAT ARE BEHIND A CRITICAL LOAD.
SO IT'S LIKE MORE SPECIFIC, A MORE, A SMALLER CORRECT NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED.
AND THEN THE FIRST THING YOU, YOU SAID YOU, IT WAS A, A MEGAWATT NUMBER, YOU GAVE THAT, THAT THE LEGISLATION NOW LETS YOU TAP INTO AND EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE.
THAT THAT'S OUR, UM, ENERGY EFFICIENCY LOAD MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
UM, SO WHAT, WHAT OUR ENERGY EFFICIENCY GROUP DOES IS EVERY YEAR THEY'LL, UM, ENROLL CUSTOMERS WHO WANT TO VOLUNTARILY PARTICIPATE IN A LOAD CURTAILMENT PROGRAM.
SO ONCE WE GET INTO AN EVENT, UM, WITH, WITH, UH, POTENTIAL TIGHT GRID CONDITIONS AND ERCOT WILL CALL FOR OUR LOAD MANAGER PROGRAM ACTIVATION WILL SEND OUT A SIGNAL TO THOSE CUSTOMERS THAT DID ENROLL, UH, TO VOLUNTARILY CURTAIL, AND THEY ARE COMPENSATED FOR, UM, CURTAILING THEIR LOAD.
AND AS FAR AS ALL THE CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE BEEN ENROLLED IN THE PROGRAM, IT ADDS UP TO ABOUT 120 MEGAWATTS.
AND HOW DO, HOW DO PE CUSTOMERS KNOW TO, I MEAN, IS IT ON YOUR BILL OR HOW DO YOU OPT INTO THAT OR? YEAH, SO THERE'S TWO PROGRAMS. ONE IS A COMMERCIAL LOAD MANAGER PROGRAM.
UM, SO WE, WE DO HAVE RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR COMMERCIAL, UM, UM, PARTNERS AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
SO OUR ENERGY EFFICIENCY GROUP DOES REACH OUT TO THE ENTIRE COMMERCIAL BASE AND MAKES 'EM AWARE OF THE PROGRAM.
UM, AS FAR AS OUR RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM, THAT'S NOT HANDLED DIRECTLY TO, TO RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, IT'S UM, IT'S, UH, DONE WITH A THIRD PARTY.
AND THAT THIRD PARTY, LIKE THE RETAIL ENERGY PROVIDERS, THEY'RE THE ONES WHO DECIDE TO ENROLL CERTAIN CUSTOMERS IN THE PROGRAM.
UH, ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTION, COUNCIL MEMBERS OR STAFF IN QUEUE ONLINE? OKAY.
UM, I HAD A FEW QUESTIONS FOR Y'ALL.
UM, FIRST OFF, THANK YOU FOR, UH, TALKING ABOUT THE MOBILE GENERATION, RIGHT? IN TERMS OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND WORKING WITH OEM, I THINK THAT THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND WHAT I UNDERSTAND BASED ON COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN'S QUESTIONS, BUT I WANNA MAKE SURE I GET IT.
LET'S SAY CRITICAL, A A CRITICAL PIECE WOULD BE A HOSPITAL, AND PREVIOUSLY WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO TOUCH ANYTHING IN THAT AREA BECAUSE THAT HOSPITAL EXISTED THERE.
BUT NOW YOU'RE ABLE TO GET AROUND THAT ACCESS MORE, UH, OPPORTUNITY, LET'S SAY TO SHED, WHICH I'M ASSUMING, JUST TAKING IT A STEP FURTHER, WHAT WE GOT STUCK WITH DURING WINTER STORM YURI, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS, UH, JUST CONSISTENT OUTAGES.
SO IS THAT WHAT IT'S HELPING TO SOLVE? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
SO, AND HOSPITALS A GREAT GREAT EXAMPLE OF, UH, A CRITICAL LOAD WHERE WE WOULD PUT THESE IG SDS ON AND, AND, AND THAT'S CORRECT.
IF WE CAN OPEN UP THE AVAILABILITY OF HOW MUCH LOAD'S AVAILABLE, WHAT THAT DOES IN TURN IS ALLOW FOR ROTATION AND, UH, MORE PREDICTABLE AND EVENLY EVEN ROTATION.
AND THEN JASON, GOING BACK TO WHAT YOU STARTED ON WHEN YOU TALKED ABOUT WE'RE 5% OF THE LAND MASS, BUT 25%, UM, OF THE, UH, LOAD, LET'S SAY, AND I WANNA BE CLEAR, UM, YOU KNOW, AS THE TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION UTILITY, AND YOU SAID IT, ERCOT IS TELLING YOU WHEN TO SHED, YOU DON'T GET TO CHOOSE THAT.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S, I'LL LET DAVID, 'CAUSE THAT'S HIS AREA.
YES, THAT'S, THAT'S EXACTLY CORRECT.
UM, ERCOT HAS THE VISIBILITY TO A GENERATION FOOTPRINT.
THEY'RE THE ONES WHO DISPATCH GENERATION.
SO WHEN THERE'S A SHORTFALL EVENT LIKE WINTER STORM YEAR OR, UM, THE POTENTIAL TIGHT GRID GRID CONDITIONS THAT WE HAD IN JULY THIS PAST SUMMER, ERCOT ISS THE ONE WHO HAS A VISIBILITY.
AND, UH, THERE ARE SOME ERCOT GUIDES AND PROTOCOL LANGUAGE THAT WE HAVE TO ABIDE BY.
AND, UM, WHEN ERCOT GIVES THAT DIRECTIVE, WE HAVE 30 MINUTES TO RESPOND TO THAT LOAD.
SHE REQUEST, SORRY, 30 MINUTES? 30 MINUTES.
SO YOU GET THE CALL FROM ERCOT, THEY SAY SHED X AND YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES.
AND I'M ASSUMING THAT MEANS IN THAT 30 MINUTES YOU HAVE TO NOT ONLY SHED, BUT COMMUNICATE WITH OEM IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT THAT IS CORRECT.
SO TYPICALLY ERCOT WOULD GIVE SOME TYPE OF WARNING, LIKE SOME OF THE CONDITIONS PRIOR TO THE LOAD SHED EVENT, AND THEY MAY NOTIFY US THAT TOMORROW BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 4:00 PM AND 8:00 PM CONDITIONS WILL BE TIGHT.
SO I'LL GIVE THAT PRE-WARNING TO OEM AND THEN WHEN THE 30 MINUTE CALL WOULD COME
[00:45:01]
AT, AT DAVID'S EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY TO LET ME KNOW THAT THAT'S GETTING READY TO HAPPEN, I'LL BE, UH, AGAIN, RELAYING THAT INFORMATION ON TO OEM.BUT JUST JUST TO CLARIFY, THERE'S, THERE'S A FEW DIFFERENT EMERGENCY CONDITION LEVELS.
EEA ONE, EEA TWO, EEA THREE, EEA THREE IS WHERE THE LOW SHE EVENT OCCURS.
SO PRIOR TO THAT, ERCOT WILL BE ALREADY IN SOME ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY CONDITIONS.
WE'LL ALREADY HAVE THAT AWARENESS WELL IN ADVANCE OF THAT.
BUT AGAIN, IT, THE AWARENESS IS GREAT AND IT'S VERY HELPFUL, BUT FROM Y'ALL'S PERSPECTIVE, YOU GOT 30 MINUTES TO SHED.
IF IT GOES INTO THAT EEA THREE EAC OR EA LEVEL THREE, EEA THREE.
UM, AND THEN GOING BACK THOUGH TO THE PERCENTAGE OF OUR SHED, I HAD READ SOME REPORTS, BUT AGAIN, I'M NOT AN EXPERT AND THIS IS A VERY HIGH LEVEL VIEW.
UM, DID WE HAVE TO SHED MORE THAN OUR PERCENTAGE LOAD DURING WINTER STORM URI? YEAH, IT'S, IT'S A GOOD, GOOD QUESTION.
UM, SO IT IS, UH, AN ISSUE THAT, UH, CENTER POINT ENERGY IS CURRENTLY TRYING TO RESOLVE WITH, WITH ERCOT.
UM, WHAT ERCOT DOES IS ONCE A YEAR, THEY TAKE A SNAPSHOT OF ALL THE UTILITIES, UM, LOAD DURING A PEAK CONDITION.
AND DURING, USUALLY DURING A PEAK CONDITION, CENTER POINT ENERGY'S PERCENTAGE IS ABOUT 25%.
THAT'S WHERE THE 25% NUMBER COMES FROM.
SO WHENEVER ER CALLS FOR LOAD, LET'S SAY THEY CALL FOR A HUNDRED MEGAWATTS OF LOAD, SHE, OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS 25% OF THAT, SO 25 MEGAWATTS.
HOWEVER, UM, THE CHALLENGE THAT WE SAW DURING, UM, WINTER TYPE EVENTS LIKE WINTER STORM URI, IS THAT THAT 25% NUMBER REALLY SHIFTS, UM, DOWNWARD BECAUSE THE NORTHERN PARTS OF THE STATE OF TEXAS MAY BE COLDER THAN COASTAL REGION.
SO THAT DISPARITY IS, IS, IS NOT 25% DURING WINTER CONDITIONS.
HOWEVER, WE WE'RE STILL HELD TO THAT 25%, WHICH IS THAT SINGLE SNAPSHOT THAT'S TAKEN DURING SUMMER PEAK CONDITIONS.
AND THEN GOING INTO SUMMER, UM, DO YOU ALL HAVE STATISTICS ON, I KNOW I AM, I'M ASSUMING WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY SHED EVENTS OVER THE SUMMER, BUT WE DID SEE INCREASES IN DEMAND.
DID WE HAVE ALERTS GOING ON THIS SUMMER? CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE SAW THIS SUMMER? SURE, YEAH.
THIS SUMMER WE DID HAVE SOME TIGHT GRID CONDITIONS WHERE ERCOT ISSUED SOME, UH, CONSERVATION, UH, REQUESTS AND APPEALS.
UM, AS FAR AS THE ENERGY EMERGENCY ALERT LEVELS, WE NEVER ENTERED INTO WHAT THEY CALL EEA LEVEL ONE, WHICH IS THE FIRST, FIRST LEVEL.
BUT WE DID ENTER INTO AN ADVISORY, WHICH IS A LEVEL ABOVE THE EEA LEVEL ONE.
AND DURING ADVISORY, THAT'S WHERE WE COULD USE OUR LOAD MANAGEMENT PROGRAM THAT I TALKED ABOUT.
UM, AND OUR CONSERVATION VOLTAGE REDUCTION PROGRAM THAT I ALSO TALKED ABOUT.
AND WE DID USE BOTH OF THOSE PROGRAMS, UM, THIS, UH, THIS SUMMER IN, IN JULY.
AND I, AGAIN, COMING FROM A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE, WHEN IT'S THAT HOT OUT AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO SEE INCREASING HEAT PATTERNS, RIGHT, POTENTIALLY, UM, AND I REMEMBER WE AT THE CITY WERE GIVING OUT NOTICES AND I'M SURE Y'ALL WERE TO ASK PEOPLE TO TURN UP THEIR THERMOSTATS.
UM, THAT'S PART OF THAT SHED STRATEGY, CORRECT.
OR LOAD STRATEGY, IS THAT CORRECT? IT HELPS TO REDUCE THE LOAD ON THE SYSTEM, WHICH PREVENTS US FROM GETTING TO THE LOAD SHED EVENT.
AND ERCOT ISSUES, THOSE CONSERVATION APPEALS.
UM, AND TYPICALLY CENTER POINT WOULD, WOULD PIGGYBACK ON 'EM.
AND THEN, UM, YOU ALL HAVE A LOT OF IMPORTANT PROGRAMS. I KNOW YOU TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, YOUR COMMS PLANS, RIGHT? YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA, YOUR OUTREACH.
UM, I JUST WANNA, FOR THE RECORD, MAKE SURE, AND IF WE DON'T, IF Y'ALL DON'T HAVE IT HANDY RIGHT NOW, BUT THE HOT, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE NUMBER TO CALL, UH, FOR CENTERPOINT? AND THEN I KNOW YOU ALSO HAVE LISTS, UM, LET'S SAY FOR AN INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS SPECIAL NEEDS, RIGHT? LET'S SAY YOU HAVE AN ELDERLY FAMILY MEMBER THAT NEEDS ADDITIONAL CARE AND YOU WANNA MAKE SURE CENTERPOINT IS AWARE OF, UM, THOSE NEEDS, SHOULD POWER GO OUT, WHO'S A PRIORITY POTENTIALLY TO GET BACK ONLINE? DO YOU ALL HAVE THAT INFORMATION HANDY? WE CAN DEFINITELY GET IT TO YOU.
I MEAN, OUR, OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER THAT'S ALWAYS AVAILABLE IS 7 1 3 2 0 2 0 7 2 2 2 2.
BUT WE ALSO HAVE OTHER EMERGENCY NUMBERS, LIKE IN THE EVENT OF A GAS, NATURAL GAS EMERGENCY.
AND ALSO THERE IS A PROCESS FOR CUSTOMERS TO SELF ELECT IF THEY'RE A CRITICAL CARE CUSTOMER FOR THAT TO BE LOOKED AT.
AND WE REALLY HAVE IT, IT GOES INTO TWO DIFFERENT AREAS.
LIKE WE HAVE THE LOW CHE EVENT WHERE, YOU KNOW, DAVIS GROUP HAS TO DO THINGS NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE ERCOT SYSTEM FROM A BLACKOUT.
THEN WE HAVE THE IMPACTS WHEN OUR SYSTEM FROM A WEATHER TYPE EVENT WHERE THE SYSTEM'S ACTUALLY DAMAGED.
SO CUSTOMERS THAT ARE ON A CRITICAL CARE LIST HELPS US SET PRIORITIES ON HOW WE RESTORE AFTER DAMAGE IS, YOU KNOW, OUR SYSTEM IS IMPACTED BY VARIOUS METHODS.
SO IT, IT'S VERY HELPFUL AND WE CAN GET THE INFORMATION AS WELL ON HOW CUSTOMERS CAN GO THROUGH THE PROCESS TO SELF ELECT THAT.
[00:50:01]
THAT WOULD BE GREAT.AND AGAIN, PAUL DOES AN AMAZING JOB OF GETTING US THAT INFORMATION AND KEEPING US UPDATED BEFORE A WEATHER EVENT.
AND I, I THINK IT'S INCUMBENT ON ALL OF OUR OFFICES TO CONTINUE TO PUSH THAT OUT.
WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS AND WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF CHANGES COMING IN, AWARENESS AND THINGS THAT, UM, AT LEAST MAKE, I'M VERY HAPPY TO SEE.
UM, FROM WHERE YOU ARE SITTING, WHAT ARE THE CURRENT CHALLENGES THAT YOU CONTINUE TO FACE? THAT'S A TOUGH ONE, RIGHT? I, I THINK CONTINUING TO HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS, UH, CONTINUING TO SEEK SUPPORT FROM OUR REGULATORS SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A, A COMMON GOAL.
AND THAT'S TO IMPROVE OUR SYSTEM AND PROVIDE THE ADDITIONAL TOOLS AND SERVICES WE NEED TO BE MORE RESILIENT MOVING INTO THE FUTURE.
AND AT THIS TIME, UM, CHAIR RECOGNIZES, UM, OUR OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DEPUTY DIRECTOR MUNOZ.
I ALSO THOUGH WANNA RECOGNIZE IN CHAMBERS, UH, CHIEF BUNI, UH, WHO'S JOINED US, UH, OUR FEARLESS LEADER OVER AT OEM.
CHIEF, DID YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING? YOU'RE GOOD.
UH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, PLEASE START WHEN YOU'RE READY.
GOOD AFTERNOON, COUNCIL MEMBERS.
SO OBVIOUSLY YOU'VE BEEN HEARING, UH, WHAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT AND THE QUESTIONS ALWAYS HAVE BEEN ASKED ON PREPAREDNESS AND WHAT WE DO AND OUR STAFF'S VERY PROACTIVE ON THAT.
WHAT I'M GONNA TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY RIGHT NOW IS TO PRESENT JUST SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE OUR FINE TEAM IS DOING.
HE'S BEEN A BIG CHAMPION OF WHAT WE DO.
AND ONE OF THE KEY INGREDIENTS WE USE ALL THE TIME IS THE COMPASSION PIECE TO MAKE THE DECISIONS AND THE PLANNING THAT WE DO.
AS I MENTIONED, I AM THE, UM, THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR.
BEEN HERE A YEAR NOW AND, UH, IT FEELS LIKE 10, BUT IT'S BEEN GREAT.
SO THE, UH, THE HEAT EMERGENCY PLANS.
WITH THAT, AS ALWAYS, WE LOOK AT THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP THE CITIZENS.
SO WE LOOK AT THE, UM, WE DO HAVE THE HEAT EMERGENCY PLANS, TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, THAT COVERS A PROLONGED HEAT, WHICH IS GONNA BE DEEMED A HEALTH EMERGENCY TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, SOME OF THE TRIGGER POINTS THAT WE USE ARE, UH, THE EXCEEDED TEMPERATURE OF 103 OR A HEAT INDEX OF 108 FOR TWO OR MORER CONSECUTIVE DAYS, WHICH IS HAPPENING A COUPLE OF TIMES HERE WITHIN THE SUMMER.
SO WE'RE AWARE OF THAT DURING THAT PROCESS.
WE'RE WORKING WITH A LOT OF THE STAKEHOLDERS, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, OBVIOUSLY ONE OF THEM.
AND SO WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF GROUPS THAT WORK TOGETHER TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE COVERING EVERY BASE.
UH, THAT'S THE FIRST ONE IS A HEAT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT GROUP, WHICH IS A COORDINATING RESPONSE TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEAT EMERGENCIES.
PART OF THAT GROUP CONSISTS OF OBVIOUSLY THE OEM, THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR, THE HEALTH DIRECTOR, THE AND PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITY OEM DUTY OFFICER, WHICH WE HAVE THAT'S CONTINUOUSLY MONITORING THAT IN 24 7.
UH, AND THEN OF COURSE OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I DO WANT TO HIT ON THIS SLIDE ON THE PUBLIC INFORMATION IS WE HAVE A VERY ROBUST, NOW WE'RE AWARE OF THE ISSUES THAT DO COME ON WITH ENSURING THAT EVERY CORNER OF THE CITY IS GETTING THE RIGHT INFORMATION.
AND WE TAKE THE APPROACH OF THE VULNERABLE GROUPS, THOSE THAT DO, CAN GET THE INFORMATION, THOSE THAT CAN'T.
AND I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THE PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH CENTERPOINT WHO GIVES US THAT INFORMATION.
OUR PUBLIC AFFAIR OFFICERS, ALLISON HUDSON, WORKS CLOSELY WITH THEIRS TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE GETTING THE SAME MESSAGE AND THE CLEAR MESSAGE AND IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AS WELL.
AND THEN PART OF THE, UH, THAT EMERGENCY HEALTH, UH, UH, PLAN IS THE COOLINGS, UH, CENTER COORDINATION GROUP, WHICH WE HAVE TO IDENTIFY THOSE AREAS SO THAT IT'S IDENTIFYING, ACTIVATING AND DEMOBILIZING OUR COOLING CENTERS SO CITIZENS CAN GET THE RELIEF THAT MIGHT BE NEEDED OR IS NEEDED DURING THESE HOT SUMMER MONTHS.
UH, AND PART OF THAT IS ALSO CONSISTS OF OUR MASS CARE PLANNER, UH, CONSISTS OF OUR BUREAU CHIEFS THAT CAN TELL US WHAT MIGHT BE HAPPENING.
OUR DIVISION MANAGERS, YOU KNOW, PARKS, UH, AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL.
SOME GREAT PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE HAVE WITH THEM ON HELPING WITH, UH, ANY TYPE OF COOLING CENTERS THAT ARE GONNA BE NEEDED.
AND OF COURSE OUR DIVISION MANAGERS AS WELL.
AND AT THE BOTTOM YOU DO SEE THAT WE DO HAVE SOME OTHER AGENCIES, YOU KNOW, THE PUBLIC WORKS, METRO, HPD, THAT WE ALL WORK HAND IN HAND IN TRYING TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE IS SAFE.
AND THEN THE BIG ONE IS ALSO THE COMMUNICATION.
HOW DO DO WE DISSEMINATE THAT INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC?
[00:55:01]
UM, IT'S THE MESSAGING THAT WE TAKE.ARE WE ENSURING THAT EVERY CROSSWALK IS GETTING THAT INFORMATION? THAT CONSISTS OF WORKING WITH METRO, THE COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR HOMELESS INITIATIVES, OEM HEALTH DEPARTMENT, UH, HPD, YOU KNOW, UM, MAYOR'S OFFICE, CONTINUOUSLY WORKING TOGETHER.
AND PART OF THAT GROUP IS ONCE AGAIN A CENTER POINT.
THE MORE WE REACH OUT SOCIAL MEDIA IS A BIG ONE THAT WE'RE USING ALONG WITH OUR MEDIA STATIONS THAT WE'VE DEVELOPED THIS GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH TO ENSURE THAT THEY'RE WELL-INFORMED OF WHAT IS HAPPENING WITHIN THE CITY.
SO, THE RHYTHM THAT WE USE FOR THIS, AND I WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT WE ALSO HAVE A CALL, A COLD WEATHER PLAN AS WELL, YOU KNOW, THAT I'LL BE BRIEFLY TOUCHING UP ON, IS, YOU KNOW, THE BIG CHALLENGES FOR US THAT WHEN WE GET THE GROUPS TOGETHER ARE TO THE WEEK FORMAT IS FINE.
'CAUSE ALL OUR AGENCIES ARE WORKING TOGETHER AND ENSURING IT'S THE WEEKENDS THAT WE LOOK AT.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT, WE START HAVING OUR MEETINGS THROUGHOUT THE WEEK TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE READY FOR THAT WEEKEND LIFT THAT IS GONNA BE NEEDED, THAT'S OUT OF THE ORDINARY.
UM, ON WEDNESDAYS WE START HAVING OUR STANDBY NOTICES.
HEY, WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE WEATHER.
WE HAVE THE SEVEN DAY FORECAST.
OUR TRIGGER POINTS ARE GETTING MET OR POSSIBLY MET.
AND WE START UTILIZING THAT INFORMATION TO ENSURE.
AND THEN OF COURSE, ON THURSDAYS WE HAVE OUR MEETINGS WHO INVITE ALL THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS AND PARTNERS TO START THE CONVERSATIONS OF WHAT IS GONNA BE NEEDED LOGISTICALLY TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE READY TO REACT IN THE EVENT WE ARE GONNA ACTIVATE, WHICH BY THIS TIME WE ALREADY PRETTY MATURE THAT WE ARE.
AND WE START THAT PROCESS AND THEN WE START TALKING TO OUR DEPARTMENTS AND OUR UPDATES, OUR WEATHERS, WHAT'S LOCATIONS.
WE START PASSING OUT THAT INFORMATION AND THEN WE FINALIZE THE FINAL PLANS TO ENSURE THAT EVERYBODY'S ON THE SAME PAGE AND THE BATTLE RHYTHMS THERE.
SO THE COORDINATION, SITUATIONAL AWARENESS ARE ENERGY PARTNERS.
I CAN'T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH THE PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH CENTERPOINT.
UM, AND IT'S GOTTEN TO BE TO WHERE THEY HAVE A SEAT AT THE EOC THAT'S PRETTY COMMON.
UM, INSTEAD OF MAKING THAT CALL, I LOOK AT JASON OR SOMEONE FROM HIS OFFICE, PAUL, AND IT'S TAKEN CARE OF RIGHT THERE.
THE REASON THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR US IS THAT SOMETIMES WE DO HAVE THOSE DECISIONS THAT HAVE TO BE MADE.
THE BIG ONE IS WE HAVE OUR DASHBOARDS READY TO GO, WE DO COUNCIL MEMBER, YOU ASKED WHAT ABOUT THOSE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AREAS, WHAT WE CALL HOSPITALS OR NURSING HOMES THAT ARE GONNA HAVE AN IMPACT, THAT WE LOOK AT THE MASS CASUALTY AND IT HAS A DOMINO EFFECT WITH THAT.
WITH THAT, IT'S EASY JUST TO TAP WHOEVER'S THERE FROM CENTER 0.9 TIMES OUT OF TEN'S GONNA BE JASON.
WE GET THE SITUATION, WE START UTILIZING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND OUR CAPABILITIES ALONG WITH HOUSTON FIRE AND PD.
AND IF THERE IS A SITUATION, WE COULD GET THOSE UPDATES, UH, RATHER QUICKLY.
AND, AND ONCE AGAIN, CHIEF BUNICH IS THERE WITH US AT ALL TIMES TO ENSURE THAT THAT IS GETTING MET.
BUT IT'S THAT PARTNERSHIP THAT MAKES THE HARD WORK EASY SOMETIMES.
I KNOW THAT WE TALKED ABOUT ERCOT, OUR LIAISON THROUGH THEM IS GONNA BE CENTER POINT THAT WE GET THOSE UPDATES.
AND I'LL TELL YOU THAT IT'S VERY GOOD.
YOU KNOW, JASON WILL CALL ME AND SAY, HEY, JUST A HEADS UP, WE GOT A LITTLE ADVISORY, WE MIGHT START THINKING ABOUT THIS.
AND HAVING THAT SITU SITUATIONAL AWARENESS WITH OUR ENERGY PARTNERS ALLOWS US TO GET READY FOR THE WORST IN THE EVENT THAT SHOULD HAPPEN.
I WANT, I WANNA GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
I APOLOGIZE THAT IF PEOPLE DO WANT TO GET THAT INFORMATION ON WHAT WE SEE, THERE'S THAT DASHBOARD THAT ERCOT HAS, UM, ON WHAT'S EXPECTED OR WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THOSE GRIDS.
I KNOW THAT ALL OF US, SOME OF US IN THE OFFICE HAVE THAT ALREADY IN OUR PHONE DOWNLOADED, SO WE CAN JUST HIT THAT AND HAVE SOME GREAT READING TO DO.
UM, NOW THE PUBLIC MESSAGING, WE OBVIOUSLY WORK WITH OUR LOCAL NEWS OUTLETS, UH, OUR SOCIAL MEDIA EMERGENCY ALERTS AGENCY PARTNERS.
PART OF THIS IS NOT ONLY WHAT IS HAPPENING, BUT FIRE DEPARTMENT CHIEF PENA AND, AND, AND, AND, UH, CHIEF FINNER WORKED, WORKED REALLY WELL WITH US ON PASSING OUT THE SAFETY INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, REMINDER TO LOOK BEHIND YOU, MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD IS NOT IN THEIR SEAT.
AND LIKE WE'VE SEEN SO MANY HEAT RELATED DEATHS DUE TO THAT, THAT, UH, WE'RE PASSING THAT SAFETY INFORMATION, HOW TO RECOGNIZE A HEAT EMERGENCY, YOU KNOW, PHYSICALLY AND WHAT TO EXPECT AND HOW TO HYDRATE.
SO THOSE REMINDERS OF WHAT TO DO.
[01:00:01]
EXAMPLES OF SOME OF THE LOCATIONS THAT WE'VE USED, UH, THIS SUMMER.UH, AND YOU CAN SEE THERE, WE HIT EVERY CORNER TO ENSURE THAT PEOPLE HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY WITHIN, THROUGHOUT THE CITY TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO GET THERE.
AND WE DO HAVE A GOOD PROGRAM WITH METRO WHERE WE PASS OUT THE NUMBER AND IF THEY NEED THAT RIDE TO THAT COOLING CENTER, THAT HAS WORKED REALLY WELL WITH US AND METRO HAS BEEN A GREAT PARTNER WITH THE CITY AS WELL.
NEXT PLEASE AND PUBLIC ASSISTANCE, WHICH IS REALLY WHAT WE DO WITH THE COMPASSION SIDE OF THE HOUSE.
UM, ONCE AGAIN, WE PASS THE COOLING CENTER INFORMATION.
WHERE IS THAT LOCATED? UH, IF PEOPLE WANT SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, OCCASIONALLY WE'LL HAVE THOSE AC FREE UNIT PROGRAMS. WE WORK WITH CENTER POINT ON PASSING OUT INFORMATION THEY DO HAVE, AND WE'LL MAKE SURE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT WE POST THAT IN OUR WEBPAGE IN CONJUNCTION IT'S CALLED, UH, LIHEAP, WHICH IS LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, WHERE CENTERPOINT TAKES IT AND WORKS WITH INDIVIDUALS TO ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE THAT ELECTRICITY THAT'S NEEDED DURING THOSE COLD MONTHS INTO SUMMER MONTHS AND THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AS WELL.
SO THAT'S A VERY GOOD PROGRAM.
WE PASS THAT INFORMATION OUT AS MUCH AS WE CAN TO ENSURE THAT EVERYBODY IS GETTING THAT INFORMATION AND HAS THE OPPORTUNITY AND TAKING THE EQUA, THE E EQUALITY AND EQUITY OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE'S GETTING THAT INFORMATION.
AND WHAT WE DID LEARN IS, UM, THAT THE GENERATORS ARE VERY IMPORTANT DURING THE FREEZE.
SO WE DID WORK ON A GRANT THAT RIGHT NOW WE FEEL PRETTY CONFIDENT THE CITY'S GONNA GET THAT IS $3.8 MILLION FOR GENERATORS FOR SPECIFIC LOCATIONS THAT HFD FIRE AND PUBLIC WORKS HAS IDENTIFIED TO ENSURE THAT IF THOSE GENERATORS ARE WORKING, THEN THAT ALLOWS US AND THEM TO PART OF THEIR CONTINUING OF OPERATION PLAN TO CONTINUE TO HELP THE CITIZENS HERE IN THOSE DIFFICULT TIMES.
SO WE FEEL VERY CONFIDENT WITH THIS AS OF RIGHT NOW.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT IS BEING REVIEWED.
MY UNDERSTANDING AFTER TALKING TO THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HAS PAST THEIR PHASE NOW.
SO WE DID THE PROPER PAPERWORK, WE IDENTIFIED ALL THE STUDIES, UH, THAT ARE NEEDED FOR THAT TO, IN ORDER FOR YOU BE SUCCESSFUL.
AND THAT'S MADE IT NOW TO THE FEMA STAGE.
SO WE FEEL CONFIDENT AFTER OUR DISCUSSIONS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE SUCCESSFUL IN GETTING THAT GRANT.
SO THAT'LL BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CITY.
UM, THE COOLING CENTERS MET THE PERIMETERS TWICE THIS SUMMER.
UH, WE WERE ACTIVATED TWICE ON JUNE 11TH AND 12TH, UH, AND JULY 9TH AND 10TH, AND WE PASSED OUT A LOT OF INFORMATION AND WE DO HAVE THE SCANNING CAPABILITIES OF SEEING HOW MANY PEOPLE.
WE HAD APPROXIMATELY 280 PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE AREAS THAT I DID VISIT THE LIBRARIES TO GET OUT OF THE SUMMER, THE SUMMER MONTHS IN THE SUMMER.
THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
COUNCIL MEMBER, IF YOU NEED ANY QUESTIONS FROM US.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, ALCORN, YOU REALLY ANSWERED MY QUESTION.
I WAS GONNA ASK ABOUT UTILIZATION OF THE, OF THE COOLING CENTERS.
DID YOU JUST NOT ON THE FIRST EVENT, YOU JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO TRACK IT OR, YES, MA'AM.
WE WERE GETTING THAT AND YOU KNOW WHAT WE WERE BEING TOLD, WE HAD OUR INDIVIDUALS AND IT WAS VERY LOW TURNOUT.
UH, ONCE WE SAW THAT MISTAKE OF, WELL, NOT A MISTAKE, AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET THAT INFORMATION, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING AFTER GETTING THE NUMBERS, WE WERE LIKE IN THE LOW TWENTIES.
AND PEOPLE REALLY WEREN'T TAKING ADVANTAGE OF IT.
SO, BUT NOW WE DO HAVE OUR TRACKING SYSTEMS THAT, UM, GREAT.
THE SCANNING CAPABILITIES AND SO FORTH.
AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT THE GRANT MONEY FOR THE, UM, FOR THE GENERATORS.
DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT MIGHT BE SETTLED IN THE, THESE FALL MONTHS? THAT'LL BE MILD WEATHER, SO IN TIME FOR THE WINTER OR, YES, MA'AM.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'VE BEEN HEARING LOOKING ABOUT, HOPEFULLY WITHIN THREE TO FOUR MONTHS AND WE'RE TALKING, BUT YOU KNOW, JUST THE, UH, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THAT WE'LL BE.
AND WHAT, AND WHAT DOES THAT BUY YOU? 3.8 MILLION? I MEAN, HOW MANY GENERATORS CAN YOU GET? SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE LOOKING AT FIVE GENERATORS THROUGHOUT THE AREA THAT PD WILL BE UTILIZING AT THEIR MAIN HUBS ALONG WITH FIRE DEPARTMENT, WHAT WE CALL THE DOCKS.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THE OPERATION CENTERS THAT THEY HAVE TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF MAINTAINING THE BIG INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGHOUT.
UH, AND OF COURSE THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS DO HAVE A GENERATOR PROGRAM WHERE THEY CONTINUOUSLY MAINTAIN THEIR GENERATORS, BUT WE'RE JUST LOOKING AT, ONCE WE DID OUR STRUCTURE AND WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY, WE DID IDENTIFY SOME AREAS THROUGH PD AND FIRE OF WHAT LOCATIONS THEY NEEDED.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT FIVE HIGH POWER GENERATORS AND I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO PASS THAT DESCRIPTION.
[01:05:01]
UP ON THAT, UM, DOES THE 3.8 MILLION THAT GRANT AND WHAT YOU ALL HAVE IDENTIFIED, DOES THAT SATISFY FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE THE NEED, UH, FOR THE CITY AS IT RELATES TO GENERATORS? OR DO WE STILL NEED MORE? WE'RE STILL GONNA SEARCH SOME MORE OPPORTUNITIES, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, WE, WE OBVIOUSLY WANNA HAVE A GREAT MITIGATION PROGRAM, AND THAT IS INVOLVING MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE LATEST AND GREATEST AND THE OPPORTUNITIES.AND OBVIOUSLY WE'RE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE, THE, HOW OLD ARE THESE GENERATORS? AND WE LEARNED A LOT, YOU KNOW, AND ARE THEY GONNA MEET, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE KEY THINGS THAT WE HEARD ABOUT GENERATORS IS THAT THEY WEREN'T BUILT FOR THE COLD WEATHER.
AND I THINK THAT WAS THROUGHOUT THE STATE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE FOUND OUT.
SO WITH THAT, THOSE AFTER ACTIONS IN MIND, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT TO ENSURE THAT, THAT THE CITY IS ALL OUTFITTED.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT, WE'RE STILL WORKING HARD TO GET MORE GRANT MONEY FOR THAT.
AND, AND I'M HAPPY TO HEAR THAT THAT IS MOVING FORWARD THOUGH.
UM, IT'S UP AT FEMA RIGHT NOW.
UM, GOING BACK TO THE DASHBOARD, 'CAUSE YOU TALKED ABOUT IT AND DR. COHEN TALKED ABOUT IT.
IS THAT THE WAY, AND I, THIS IS NOT A COMMENT ON THE, UM, IMPORTANCE OF AN EFFECTIVENESS AND THE GREAT JOB THAT CENTERPOINT DOES IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE CITY OF HOUSTON, BUT AS IT RELATES TO THE DASHBOARD, IS THAT WHERE WE'RE GETTING INFORMATION FROM ERCOT, OR DO WE HAVE A LINE OF COMMUNICATION WITH ERCOT AS WELL? SO I WILL TELL YOU THAT AS FAR AS OUR DASHBOARDS, WE DO GET SOME OF THAT INFORMATION FROM THERE TO GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE WHERE WE'RE STANDING, RIGHT.
WITH THOSE TECHNICAL QUESTIONS.
YOU KNOW, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, I DO HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO JASON QUITE FREQUENTLY, D DURING, IN THAT ANY WEATHER EVENT, EVEN THOSE SPECIAL EVENTS, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE CAPABILITY MIGHT BE.
BUT WE DO HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY AND THAT TRANSPARENCY THROUGH CENTERPOINT AND WE ALSO UTILIZE THAT DASHBOARD.
YET THE, THE SHORT ANSWER IS WE UTILIZE THE DASHBOARDS AND YOU KNOW, WE USE CENTERPOINT TO GET ANY INFORMATION AS WELL.
BUT IN THE DASHBOARD THOUGH, IS PUBLIC FACING MM-HMM
AND I THINK YOU INCLUDED THE WEBSITE, WHICH IS GREAT, BUT THAT'S YES.
HOW WE'RE GETTING INFORMATION FROM ERCOT OTHER THAN THROUGH CENTERPOINT.
UM, I KNOW THAT YOU ALL HAVE, AND IN SPEAKING WITH YOU AND OTHERS, UM, A PHENOMENAL RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR OTHER MAJOR CITIES IN THE STATE.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE WORK THAT YOU ALL AS OEM ARE DOING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER CITIES? AS FAR AS, SO OBVIOUSLY WE CAPTURE A LOT OF THE LESSONS LEARNED AFTER ACTION REPORTS.
YOU KNOW, WE DO SEE SOMETHING GOING ON, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT NOT ONLY THE MAJOR CITIES, YOU KNOW, CHICAGO, NEW YORK, AND SO FORTH.
WE ALSO HAVE THE, THE TEXAS BIG CITIES, RIGHT? SO WE LOOK AT THAT AS WELL.
WE HAVE OUR MONTHLY MEETINGS AND WE GET SOME IDEAS OF WHAT HAS OCCURRED.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE LOOKED AT EL PASO FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, YOU KNOW, DURING THE WALMART SHOOTING, WHAT HAS HAPPENED THERE? HOW DO WE, WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THAT? WE SHARE THAT INFORMATION, BEST PRACTICES, LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH THE MAJOR CITIES.
WE, WE DO WORK A LOT WITH THEM AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAS, UH, WHAT WORKS FOR YOU BEST PRACTICES AS WELL.
SO WE DO HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY QUITE A BIT, BIT.
AND I, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT ANSWERS THE QUESTION, BUT GREAT.
SO, AND I'M ASSUMING WHAT YOU'RE HEARING AS IT RELATES TO EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS IS THAT THIS ISN'T UNIQUE TO HOUSTON.
WE'RE ADDRESSING IT IN A HOUSTON WAY, BUT THIS IS NOT BASED ON YOUR CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER MAJOR CITIES, UH, HOUSTON SPECIFIC ISSUE AND CHALLENGE THAT WE'RE FACING.
YEAH, IF IT'S, IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE, THE, THE ISSUES THAT HAPPENED DURING THE WINTER, YOU KNOW, THE YURI YEAH.
IT WAS NOT, IT WAS PRETTY MUCH FELT ACROSS THE STATE.
YOU KNOW, WE ALL HAD THE SAME CHALLENGES OF FINDING OUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING, WHAT WAS GOING ON THAT, YOU KNOW, AND THAT WAS A HUGE LESSONS LEARNED FOR US, AND HOW DO WE SHARE THAT INFORMATION? AND IT SEEMS TO BE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE KEY THINGS THAT HELPS THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
HOW FAST ARE WE GETTING THAT INFORMATION? AND YOU KNOW, THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID TALK ABOUT AND HOW DO WE GET THAT? YEAH.
AND I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT THOSE CONVERSATIONS, I'M ASSUMING HAVE BEEN REALLY HELPFUL.
UM, HIS ERCOT PARTICIPATED IN ANY OF THOSE COORDINATION CALLS OR INFORMATION SHARINGS OR TROUBLESHOOTINGS? NO, MA'AM.
WE, UH, WE HAVE PERSONALLY NOT HAVE HIM ON THERE.
UH, BUT ONCE AGAIN, IT'S, 'CAUSE WE DO HAVE CENTER POINT ON OUR WEATHER CALLS, EVERYTHING MAJOR THAT'S COMING.
THEY'RE PART OF OUR QUOTE UNQUOTE ACTIVATION PROCESS.
AND SO WE GET THAT INFORMATION FROM THEM IF, IF IT'S NEEDED OR THEY GIVE US THE, THE HEADS UP OF WHAT MIGHT BE OCCURRING AND SO FORTH.
SO WE, THAT'S HOW WE UTILIZE OUR INFORMATION FOR OUR DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
AND, UM, I ASKED THE SAME QUESTION OF CENTER POINT, BUT WE'VE SEEN SOME IMPROVEMENTS.
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT YOU ALL ARE CURRENTLY FACING, OR NOT NECESSARILY AT OEM, BUT THE WE AS, IT'S IMPORTANT AS COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF AND THE PUBLIC TO BE AWARE OF? AND I THINK THE, THE CHALLENGES FOR US IS OBVIOUSLY HOW
[01:10:01]
FAST CAN WE GET INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE GOING WITH THE LOW LINE FRUIT IS HOW FAST CAN WE GET THAT INFORMATION TO START MAKING THE DECISIONS? IF WE, WE DO HAVE A MAJOR EVENT OR WE DO HAVE ANOTHER SUMMER ISSUE COMING ON EXTREME HEAT, YOU KNOW, HOW HOW FAST CAN WE GET THAT INFORMATION, UM, TO START THAT DECISION MAKING PROCESS, OUR TRIGGER POINTS TO DO THAT, THAT'S A LOW LINE FRUIT FOR US.AND OBVIOUSLY LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, GETTING THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET MORE FEDERAL FUNDING IS ANOTHER ONE FOR US, UH, TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE ARE THE FOURTH LARGEST CITY IN THE COUNTRY AND, AND HOW DO WE GET THAT? AND, AND HAVING THE SUPPORT FUNDS, FINANCIAL SUPPORT FUNDS TO BE ABLE TO, TO ADDRESS, YOU KNOW, TECHNOLOGY'S ALWAYS, UH, CHANGING.
UH, I JUST UNDERSTAND IT WAS A LINE FOR A NEW APPLE PHONE.
I MEAN, YOU'RE, YEAH, SO I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT HAPPENED, BUT MY 15-YEAR-OLD WOULD MAKE ME VERY WELL AWARE OF THAT.
SO, UH, BUT THAT'S JUST IT, YOU KNOW, HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET THOSE FUNDINGS TO HELP, YOU KNOW, WITH THE PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGIES, WE TALKED ABOUT DASHBOARDS.
THAT IS A HUGE TECHNOLOGY PIECE FOR US, THE BANDWIDTH TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT, THE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.
AND YOU'VE BEEN INTO OUR EOC AND THE CAPABILITIES THAT WE HAVE THAT ARE GOOD, BUT YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S THAT ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT.
AND I JUST WANNA THANK YOU ALL.
I DON'T SEE ANY OTHER, UM, STAFF OR COUNCIL MEMBERS IN QUEUE.
BUT YOU TALK ABOUT, UM, THE TECHNOLO TECHNOLOGICAL NEEDS AND, YOU KNOW, I'M THE BROKEN RECORD ON ALL OF THE NEEDS THAT WE HAVE.
UM, DESPITE ALL OF THOSE CHALLENGES AND THE, UH, OUTDATED TECHNO TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE THAT YOU ALL DEAL WITH DAILY, NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO THE GRID, BUT I'M JUST TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
UM, YOU ALL DO, UH, AN EXCEPTIONAL JOB.
I THINK WE HAVE THE BEST, UH, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, UM, OFFICE IN THE COUNTRY, UH, AND, UH, YOU ALL HAVE TIME AND AGAIN, AND THE SAME GOES FOR STAFF AT CENTERPOINT, UH, EVERYONE OUT IN THE FIELD IN AN EMERGENCY, UM, RESPONDING.
BUT YOU ALL ARE ON CALL A LOT.
UH, YOU ARE ACTIVATED A LOT AND THOSE, UH, TIMES ARE TRYING AND YOU ALL CONTINUE TO SERVE.
SO PLEASE, UM, DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND CHIEF, UH, RELAY OUR APPRECIATION TO STAFF.
UM, AGAIN, I DON'T HAVE THE MOST RECENT NUMBERS.
I KNOW I ALWAYS ASK HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU ACTIVATED THIS YEAR, UM, JUST TO GET AN IDEA AND A PICTURE OF REALLY WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
BUT, UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU CONTINUE TO DO.
TODAY'S BEEN 22 TO 22 TIMES THIS YEAR.
NO, AND I, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT.
SOME GREAT MEMBERS JUST WORK EFFORTLY EFFORTLESSLY WITH, UH, COMPASSION IN MIND FOR THE CITIZENS.
SO THAT'S BEEN THE, THE, THE BIG INGREDIENT FOR US.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
UM, AND WITH THAT, I'LL JUST REMIND THE PUBLIC AND COUNCIL MEMBERS, A LOT OF LINKS WERE SHARED THAT I THINK WILL BE HELPFUL TO SHARE WITH THE PUBLIC.
UM, INCLUDING NOT ONLY ERCOT DASHBOARD, BUT HOW TO, UM, CONTACT, CONTACT CENTERPOINT AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO PUSH THAT OUT, HOW TO GET ON SOME OF THOSE LISTS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY PUBLIC SPEAKERS SIGNED UP FOR TODAY.
SO I JUST WANNA THANK ALL OF OUR PRESENTERS, UH, FOR COMING IN, COUNCIL MEMBERS, STAFF, AND EVERYONE WHO JOINED TODAY'S MEETING, AS WELL AS IT AND HTV, UH, THEY'RE ALWAYS HELPING OUT IN THE BACKGROUND.
UH, WE MAY HAVE, MAY HAVE A SPECIAL CALLED, UH, COMMITTEE MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 29TH.
WE WILL ANNOUNCE THAT SHORTLY IF THAT'S HAPPENING.
IF NOT, THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE OCTOBER 20TH.
AGAIN, AGENDA AND PRESENTATIONS CAN BE FOUND ONLINE ON THE COMMITTEE'S WEBPAGE, AND THE RECORDING OF THE MEETING IS POSTED ON HTVS WEBSITE.
AND COUNCIL MEMBER, WE'RE GONNA GET YOU, UM, THE ACTUAL TRANSCRIPT OF, UH, DR.
SO WITH THAT, THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED AT THREE 14.