This Is Not Rocket Science -- It's All About Natural Gas -- Not Wind, Not Solar, Not Nuclear -- July 19, 2024

Locator: 48188B.

Tag: ERCOT

WTI: $82.47.

Sunday, July 21, 2024: 36 for the month; 36 for the quarter, 362 for the year
39966, conf, Petroshale, Primus 1MBH,

Saturday, July 20, 2024: 35 for the month; 35 for the quarter, 361 for the year
40256, conf, CLR, Chase 3-18H,

Friday, July 19, 2024: 34 for the month; 34 for the quarter, 360 for the year
40257, conf, CLR, Chase 4-18H,

RBN Energy: Texas Energy Fund seeks to speed development of new gas-fired power plants. Link here.

Power generation is one of the leading consumers of natural gas in Texas — every month last year, generators in the state used between 4 Bcf/d and 8 Bcf/d, on average, with the volumes peaking (as you would expect) in August, when air conditioning and a friend with a pool are must-haves. But as we’ve seen, the Texas power grid is often stressed to its limit, and the state has been taking steps to significantly increase the gas-fired generating capacity available for peak-demand periods in both the hottest and coldest months. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss one of the state’s boldest steps yet: the creation of a multibillion-dollar fund to support the development of thousands of megawatts of new gas-fired generation. 

Electric power has been on a lot of Texans’ minds lately, especially if you live and work in the parts of the state hit hard by Hurricane Beryl earlier this month. We can’t explain why it took so long for many of you — and quite a few RBN staffers — to be reconnected to the grid. But today we can speak to the broader issue of what you might call “generation-capacity sufficiency” or, to put it in layman’s terms, will there be enough power plants to keep the lights on?