Wholesale design: nodal energy-only wholesale market with day-ahead and real-time co-optimization after RTC+B implementation.
Operator
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
Nominal frequency
60 Hz
Where energy trades
Where does energy trade in ERCOT?
Energy in ERCOT trades in 2 layers: Day-Ahead Market and Real-Time Market with RTC+B. Participation in Real-Time Market with RTC+B is mandatory. Scheduling and settlement, where the official sources state them, are in the table below.
Layer
Scheduling
Settlement
Day-Ahead Market
hourly
locational marginal pricing for energy; market clearing prices for capacity for ancillary services
real-time locational marginal pricing and co-optimized ancillary-service awards/prices
What a battery can sell
What ancillary services can a battery sell in ERCOT?
ERCOT has 5 ancillary-service products, across 3 families — regulation, contingency reserve and ramping reserve: ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service, Non-Spinning Reserve Service, Regulation Service Down, Regulation Service Up, Responsive Reserve Service. Response timing, direction and eligibility for each are in the cards below, as the official sources state them.
Facts below are stated as the official sources state them. A missing line means the
source does not state that value — never that the value is zero.
Regulation
Regulation Service Down
Continuously correct short-term frequency and area-control error deviations in the downward direction.
Activation
automatic generation control
Expected within
5 seconds
Sustain
at least 30 min
Trigger / range
continuous control around 60 Hz; not initiated by one fixed frequency threshold
Typical procurement
Dynamic or not publicly stated
Pricing
ancillary-service capacity clearing price; deployed energy is settled under ERCOT market rules
The 2025 requirement methodology remained unchanged for 2026; duration reflects the RTC+B implementation approved in NPRR1282.
Regulation Service Up
Continuously correct short-term frequency and area-control error deviations in the upward direction.
Activation
automatic generation control
Expected within
5 seconds
Sustain
at least 30 min
Trigger / range
continuous control around 60 Hz; not initiated by one fixed frequency threshold
Typical procurement
Dynamic or not publicly stated
Pricing
ancillary-service capacity clearing price; deployed energy is settled under ERCOT market rules
The 2025 requirement methodology remained unchanged for 2026; duration reflects the RTC+B implementation approved in NPRR1282.
Contingency reserve
Responsive Reserve Service
Arrest frequency decline after a contingency and provide capacity responsive to ERCOT deployment instructions.
Activation
frequency-responsive capability and/or ERCOT instruction, depending on qualified resource and reserve subtype
Stated response
RRS contains distinct qualified capabilities, including primary-frequency response, under-frequency relay response, and fast-frequency response; no single response time accurately represents all subtypes.
Sustain
at least 30 min
Trigger / range
subtype-specific; frequency thresholds and deployment criteria are defined in ERCOT protocols and operating guides
Typical procurement
Dynamic or not publicly stated
Pricing
ancillary-service capacity clearing price
The minimum amount carried as primary-frequency-response-capable RRS was 1,365 MW for 2025 and 1,377 MW for 2026. Those figures are floors for one capability, not total RRS procurement.
Ramping reserve
ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service
Restore frequency and replenish responsive reserves following significant frequency deviations, and cover defined net-load ramp risks.
Activation
ERCOT deployment instruction; qualified resources must meet ECRS response requirements
Expected within
10 minutes
Sustain
at least 1 h
Trigger / range
deployed for qualifying frequency events or system conditions under the protocols; requirement methodology also considers forecast ten-minute net-load ramp risk
Typical procurement
Dynamic or not publicly stated
Pricing
ancillary-service capacity clearing price
The one-hour duration is the RTC+B-era requirement approved through NPRR1282. Some consolidated guide text remained stale; NPRR1339 was pending in 2026 to align that text.
Non-Spinning Reserve Service
Provide additional dispatchable capacity when real-time reserve conditions or forecast ramps require it.
Current requirement calculation changed for 2026; use the applicable annual methodology rather than treating a historical procurement range as a product constant.
Getting paid to exist
Does ERCOT have a capacity mechanism?
No central capacity market. ERCOT has 1 capacity/adequacy arrangement — Energy-only resource adequacy framework — and it works differently.
Energy-only resource adequacy framework
ERCOT remained an energy-only market. In December 2024 the Public Utility Commission of Texas tabled the Performance Credit Mechanism because moving forward with the design was not considered practicable at that time. The PCM was not an operating capacity auction at the cutoff; possible future reconsideration does not change the current energy-only classification.
Auction held in 2025
No — No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.
Current as of · from the
Global Electricity Market Catalogue v1.2.0 (compiled to , CC BY 4.0). Facts belong to the linked official authorities;
verify the current rules before design or bidding decisions.
Questions
Common questions about ERCOT
Who operates ERCOT?
Electric Reliability Council of Texas operates ERCOT, covering Texas, United States.
Was a qualifying capacity event held in ERCOT in 2025?
No. Energy-only resource adequacy framework: no qualifying 2025 event is recorded. No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.
How is energy traded, priced and settled in ERCOT?
ERCOT: nodal energy-only wholesale market with day-ahead and real-time co-optimization after RTC+B implementation.