Today, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy released an astounding report showing that Texas could slash electricity demand by more than 16,000 megawatts in winter through the widespread use of efficient heat pumps, smart thermostats, and demand response programs aimed at electric vehicles.

That’s more than 80% of the missing megawatts during Uri; ERCOT demand was about 20,000 megawatts more than available supply.

It’s also about 20% of the peak demand that the PUC and ERCOT leaders fretted over last week and 50% more capacity than the infamous Berkshire Hathaway spending binge would create.

The cost savings are about as dramatic. The Berkshire Hathaway plan is now projected to cost $18 billion; to reduce the same amount of power, if utilities and policymakers focused on three highly cost effective offerings (heat pumps, thermostats, and EV demand response), runs about $100 million per year .

Another comparison: the Lieutenant Governor’s newest proposal for zero-interest loans and “completion bonuses” for gas plants is estimated to cost Texans about $1 billion for every gigawatt of electricity that’s added to the grid. The ACEEE study shows that Texas could cut a gigawatt of demand for about $42 million or less than1/20th of that cost — 95% less…

The sky is falling. And everything is great!

Such was the message at a bizarre PUC and ERCOT press conference Wednesday. Ostensibly, the purpose was to release two reports on grid reliability. Instead, it turned into a political exercise — another effort to spin Texas’ ongoing grid problems as something somehow caused by the state’s nation-leading clean energy resources.

“The grid is more reliable than ever,” said ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas. Also Vegas: There is a “higher risk of emergency operations” this summer compared to last. So more reliable than ever… except for last summer?

Said PUC Chair Peter Lake: “The risk of brief periods of load shed has increased.”

Got it. More reliable than ever and more risk of rolling outages. Clear as mud!

So Are There Actually Problems?

Texans continue to list grid reliability as one of their top concerns. Given these mixed messages, that won’t change any time soon — nor should it, given the increasingly obvious political and anti-competitive tilt of the PUC and ERCOT…