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What is ERCOT, and why does it matter to landowners?

Updated

General information, not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Short answer: ERCOT runs the power grid for most of Texas (ERCOT). Large solar, wind, and battery projects there go through ERCOT's interconnection process (ERCOT), and ERCOT's monthly public report lists planned projects (ERCOT).

What is ERCOT?

ERCOT is the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, created in 1970 (Texas Comptroller). It manages power flow to more than 27 million Texas customers, about 90 percent of the state's electric load (ERCOT). ERCOT has a board of directors and is subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Texas Legislature (ERCOT).

Which parts of Texas are not in ERCOT?

ERCOT covers 214 of the state's 254 counties; El Paso, parts of the Panhandle, and the East Texas counties bordering Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma are served by neighboring grids (Texas Comptroller, 2023). As of 2021 reporting:

  • Most of the Panhandle and South Plains get power from Xcel Energy, in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) (Texas Tribune).
  • The Beaumont area is served by Entergy, in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) (Texas Tribune).
  • El Paso is connected to the Western grid, not ERCOT (Texas Tribune).

SPP and MISO run their own interconnection queues (SPP; MISO). A project on land in those areas will not appear in ERCOT's list. See interconnection by market.

What is the interconnection queue and GIS report?

ERCOT guides developers through its interconnection process for new or modified generation in the ERCOT system (ERCOT). It publishes a monthly Generator Interconnection Status (GIS) report with public information on planned generation in the ERCOT region (ERCOT).

A listing means a developer has asked ERCOT to connect a project. It does not mean the project will be built. Nationally, of capacity that asked to connect from 2000 to 2020, only 13 percent was operating by the end of 2025, and 75 percent had withdrawn (Berkeley Lab). That figure covers all U.S. queues, not ERCOT alone.

A project missing from the list is not necessarily fake. Developers often sign land options before they file.

What this means for you

  • Find out whether your land is in ERCOT, SPP, MISO, or WECC. That tells you whose queue to check.
  • Open your county page to see proposed projects from ERCOT's report, or browse all of them on our ERCOT projects page.
  • Ask the developer for the project's ERCOT ID (INR number) and its current stage.
  • Treat an early-stage listing as a possibility, not a promise of lease payments.

General information from the sources linked above, not legal, tax, or financial advice.

Sources and helpful links

More official contacts and resources: Helpful links.

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