Thread by @bradj_TX

There's been a lot of criticism of the Biden admin for the Dept. of @ENERGY's order responding to @ERCOT_ISO's request to A) allow generating units to operate at maximum capacity & B) temporarily waive emissions caps.

But the DOE approved ERCOT's request.
energy.gov/sites/prod/fil…

There are generation caps past a certain total of emissions produced. Once triggered, a generator must cease operations for a given period of time.

Obviously, that is not conducive to an emergency situation like last week's -- hence the @ERCOT_ISO request.

The Dept. of @ENERGY's order granted such allowances under three conditions:
1. The state was under either an Energy Emergency Alert level 2 or 3
2. The electricity generated under this emergency order be sold for >$1,500/MW
3. All other options have been exhausted

.@ERCOT_ISO CEO Bill Magness sent the DOE a request on Feb 14 for these allowances, something the DOE not only granted but went a step further by expanding it to a EEA level 3 as well -- which makes logical sense but was not explicitly requested by ERCOT.
energy.gov/sites/prod/fil…

The DOE issued this order the same day @ERCOT_ISO requested it.

Now, the timeline gets a little sticky. ERCOT didn't issue the EEA Level 2 until 1:12 a.m. on Feb 15 -- 13 minutes before they began "rotating" outages.

So, while the DOE allowance was approved at 7:51 p.m. CST on the 14th, @ERCOT_ISO didn't issue the emergency order necessary to trigger that DOE order until over 7 hours later.

The emergency order couldn't be issued until forecasted demand outpaced supply -- so that may be why.

But nonetheless, the Dept. of @ENERGY approved what was asked of them.