WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD COLUMN: How Virtual Power Plants (VPP) Work
In an August 23, 2023 press release, the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT), announced that two “virtual power plants (VPPs)” were certified to provide electricity to Texas. Review of the necessity of this initiative, and details of implementation are warranted. Power Outage Risk . The impetus for this program appears to be the fragility of the Texas grid. The danger of electric power outages in Texas was dramatically highlighted during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. According to www.poweroutage.us, 4.4 million Texans suffered power outages during Uri, including up to 30% of McLennan County customers. One hundred forty-six Texans died of hypothermia, with power outages a probable contributor to most of these deaths. The following year, a winter storm, December 23 to 25, 2022, produced blackouts impacting more than 87,000 Texans, with about 36 deaths nationally. And during the current brutally hot Texas summer, more than 100,000 Texans reportedly lost pow
