ERCOT Ancillary Service Programs in Texas

ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS) 

ERCOT’s newest Demand Response program that is the most financially valuable for your business.

ECRS Deployments only occur during an energy emergency alert. A site’s curtailable load(s) must respond within 10 minutes when instructed by ERCOT in emergency conditions. A site can choose to have a 59.70 Hz frequency recovery deployment trigger.    

Load Resource (LR)  

Participating in ERCOT’s Load Resource program is straightforward with a requirement to respond in 10 minutes or instantaneously by load shedding when instructed by ERCOT in emergency conditions or when grid frequency falls below 59.7 Hz.

This program requires an under-frequency relay (UFR) to participate. Our leading-edge VIO Link technology will automatically respond to grid events when they occur, making it easy for your business to participate.  

ERCOT Non-Spinning Reserves (NSPN) 

ERCOT’s Non-Spinning Reserves program offers a unique opportunity to support the ERCOT grid more frequently. The more frequent deployments are ideal for loads that can easily be curtailed and restored by load shedding. Your site’s loads must respond within 30 minutes or transfer to an on-site standby generator when instructed by ERCOT to prevent an emergency, ensuring your operations’ safety and reliability.    

Emergency Response Service (ERS) 

When electricity prices are high or constrained, ERCOT will pay large energy users to use less energy through ERS. A site must curtail its loads within 10 or 30 minutes.  

How to Participate

If your commercial or industrial business has onsite back-up generation or equipment that can have its electricity consumption reduced for brief periods, then Demand Response could be a viable opportunity for your business.

Suitable equipment may include air conditioning, ventilation, electric heating, water chillers, fans, pumps, and other interruptible loads.

If you’d like to discuss your site’s suitability for Demand Response or learn how it can fit into your energy management strategy, our technical team are happy to provide a no-obligation technical discovery meeting. Simply get in touch and we’ll do the rest.