ERCOT Has 2.77 GW of Batteries Waiting on Commissioning

Texas, October 20 — ERCOT ended September with 29 batteries totaling 2.77 GW synchronized to the grid but still short of full commercial-operations approval, as an industry adviser warns that the US year-end rush is stretching the teams that commission storage.

Shawn Shaw, founder and CEO of advisory firm Camelot Energy Group, told Energy-Storage.news that energy management system (EMS) vendors, who supply the software that dispatches a battery, are spread thin as developers race to meet placed-in-service deadlines. Modo Energy's latest buildout data shows how large that backlog has become in Texas.

The Technical Details

Shaw says hybrid solar-plus-storage projects are the hardest, because teams know how to bring solar online while EMS vendors rush between sites to commission storage at year-end. He adds that a battery energy storage system (BESS) may not be ready to trade for months after its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract is substantially complete, since most wholesale markets require tests of services such as frequency regulation.

In ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Modo counts a record 2.2 GW reaching commercial operation in Q3, beating the 2.05 GW set a year earlier. Year to date, 4.7 GW has reached commercial operation, against 4.2 GW at the same point in 2025. Of the 2.77 GW still waiting, 1.41 GW can already dispatch at full rated power in the real-time market.