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Webinar: Texas Power Grid Readiness, An Update
February 28 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CST
Description
As the Texas Section American Society of Civil Engineers prepares an update to the “Beyond Storms – Reliability and Resilience in the Balance” report, we offer an overview of what has changed with critical infrastructure over the last two years since Winter Storms Uri and Viola wreaked havoc across Texas. The Texas Legislature is currently reviewing market options for improving the reliability and resilience of the Texas Electrical Power Grid. ERCOT has modified their approach to having reserve power, hence avoiding “Load Shed” events during the summer of 2022 and the December 2022 extreme cold weather event.
The Texas Oil and Gas Association’s members have moved forward with winterization activities for key natural gas production sites across the state. Water utilities have modified and enhanced the equipment and protocols for managing through weather events. The Public Utilities Commission, ERCOT, the Texas Railroad Commission, Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Public Safety, and other critical infrastructure departments now meet together in advance of and during any severe weather events to coordinate responses. And local municipalities have begun conducting “Emergency Preparedness” meetings to provide the public with information to assist in enhancing individual and family preparedness for severe weather events.
This update will highlight the impacts of the changes that have been set into motion, all of which aligned with the recommendations detailed in the February 2022 Texas ASCE “Beyond Storms” report. We will also convey briefly the ongoing work underway to continue enhancing the reliability and resilience of Texas Infrastructure, some of which our ASCE members are actively participating in implementing.
Speaker
Oliver Smith, Senior Consultant, Smith Professional Services
Oliver Smith is a native Texan, born and raised on the campus of Prairie View A&M University. Mr. Smith has been a Civil Engineer for 47 years and joined ASCE in his junior year of college at Michigan State University. His early experience in oil and natural gas facility construction and production operations led him to join the 24 volunteers who prepared the analysis and recommendations in the Reliability & Resilience in the Balance Report. He has worked in several business environments and guided actions to improve the reliability and resilience of the processes that enabled those businesses to deliver projects, products and services economically, and in a timely fashion.
- BSCE & MSCE – Michigan State University
- Veteran – US Army Corps of Engineers (Captain)
- Construction Engineer – Exxon Company USA, BASF Corporation, Frito-Lay.
- Program Controls Manager – CH2M Hill > City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering
- Senior Project Engineer – 3M Division Engineering > Laboratory and Administrative Office Project Management
- Manufacturing Project Manager – 3M Optimized Operations
- Manufacturing Product Manager – 3M Telecommunications Systems Division
- Manufacturing Plant Manager / Manufacturing Supply Chain Manager – 3M Optical Components Program
- Business Sourcing Manager – 3M Electrical Markets Division
- Sourcing Specialist – 3M Sourcing Operations Construction Contract Administration
- Process Optimization and Resilience Senior Consultant – Smith Professional Service
Registration
Free for members, $25 for non-members
