State regulators approve controversial Texas electricity market reform

The Decker Creek Power Station, a natural gas power plant northeast of Austin. The Public Utility Commission has voted to change how the state’s electricity market functions in an effort to make the power grid more reliable. (Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune)

The Public Utility Commission voted Thursday to make a substantial change to the state’s electricity market in a controversial effort to get the whole system to be more reliable. The agency said it will let the Legislature review its plan before moving forward with putting it in place.

The idea, known as the “performance credit mechanism,” is a first-of-its-kind proposal. It’s meant to help produce enough power when extreme heat or cold drives up demand and electricity production drops for various reasons — such as a lack of sun or wind to produce renewable energy or equipment breakdowns at gas- or coal-fired power plants.