Texas Scorecard by Jacob Asmussen February 19, 2021
“Maybe it was not possible given the short emergency time, but it would seem to me that this (power plant) should be on call in emergencies like this.†If there was ever a good time to turn on a power plant, this week would’ve been it.
As millions of Texans suffered this week during historic winter storms and catastrophic power outages, Austin officials left a $1 billion power plant completely offline.
According to local news KXAN, Austin’s East Texas biomass power plant—a facility that burns wood waste to generate more than 100 megawatts of power—was not turned on a single time over the past week.
It could have powered more than 20,000 homes.
An Austin Energy spokesman said the plant was turned off because they switched the facility last year to only seasonal use.
“On May 19, 2020, Austin Energy notified ERCOT [the state government’s now highly disdained power grid management agency] that the utility will suspend year-round operations at the Nacogdoches Biomass Power Plant and shift instead to seasonal, summer operations running from May 15 to October 15,†Austin Energy said in an email Friday morning.
“Seasonal operation will allow Austin Energy to use the biomass plant more efficiently—it will simplify operational planning,†they added.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/local/austin-didnt-use-its-1b-biomass-power-plant-during-winter-crisis/