Texas Grid Using Mobile Generators to Boost Summer Reliability
Image courtesy of Radek Kucharski under Attribution 2.0 Generic Deed, resized to 700 x 391 pixels.
CenterPoint Energy recently announced that it is sending 15 temporary mobile generators to San Antonio and the surrounding areas to boost the reliability of the local grid and minimize power outages.
The beauty of this move is that there is no profit play on this for CenterPoint – the utility won’t receive any financial benefit from the deployment, it truly is solely aimed at boosting reliability. I love this from an emergency preparedness perspective, so let’s take a closer look at the details.
How Mobile Generators Will Help the Local Grid
CenterPoint acquired the mobile generators after Winter Storm Uri completely overwhelmed the Texas grid in 2021. Following a barrage of criticism the utility endured for not utilizing the generators during Hurricane Beryl in 2024, CenterPoint agreed to forgo profits from the deployment as a way to appease its critics.
This criticism also led to the utility launching its $5 billion Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, which includes initiatives such as the installation of 26k hardened poles, the undergrounding of 400 miles of power lines, and the deployment of over 5,000 grid-enhancing technologies.
The mobile generators range in capacity from 27-32 MW. The reason they were deployed to the San Antonio region is because the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said the grid in this area is at risk of a shortfall this summer due to recent power plant retirements (CPS Energy’s V.H. Braunig Units 1, 2, and 3). All told, the mobile units will be deployed for up to 2 years.
Again, I love this concept, and I applaud CenterPoint for stepping up and trying to make amends for its recent storm-preparation and recovery shortfalls. I think, generally speaking, the utilization of large mobile generators as a reliability enhancement makes sense for any electric utility operating in an at-risk service territory. Hopefully, this deployment will provide a framework for other utilities to follow suit.
