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.

ERCOT - Electricity Market

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 cited sources give 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 Market with RTC+B (mandatory)	five-minute security-constrained economic dispatch	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 table below; a product's full record lists the official sources behind it.

Every value below comes from the official sources listed in that product's full record. Most products cite more than one, and the published sources do not say which of them states each individual value, so the binding is to the product's record rather than to a single document. A missing line means the source does not state that value — never that the value is zero.

Scroll the table sideways for the rest of the columns →

5 ancillary-service products in ERCOT, grouped into 3 families. Each row runs left to right through one product's life: how it activates, how quickly it has to respond, how long it has to keep delivering, and how it is bought.
Service	How it activates	Response	Sustained delivery	Procurement
Regulation
Regulation Service Down Reg-Down	Response type pre-contingency continuous Trigger continuous control around 60 Hz; not initiated by one fixed frequency threshold Dispatched by automatic generation control	Expected within 5 s	Minimum obligation at least 30 min	Through day-ahead; real-time, co-optimized Pricing design ancillary-service capacity clearing price; deployed energy is settled under ERCOT market rules
Full record for Regulation Service Down — document bound, page for these figures not recorded What it is for Continuously correct short-term frequency and area-control error deviations in the downward direction. Notes from the source The 2025 requirement methodology remained unchanged for 2026; duration reflects the RTC+B implementation approved in NPRR1282. Checkpoint recap Expected within 5 s · Minimum sustained 30 min What the source does not state The source states the response deadline and a minimum delivery period. It does not state a maximum duration, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which. Sources Service specification 2025 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2025 Service specification 2026 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2026 Rules NPRR1282, Energy Storage Resource State of Charge and Ancillary Service Duration Updates (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · rule change · published 5 December 2025
Regulation Service Up Reg-Up	Response type pre-contingency continuous Trigger continuous control around 60 Hz; not initiated by one fixed frequency threshold Dispatched by automatic generation control	Expected within 5 s	Minimum obligation at least 30 min	Through day-ahead; real-time, co-optimized Pricing design ancillary-service capacity clearing price; deployed energy is settled under ERCOT market rules
Full record for Regulation Service Up — document bound, page for these figures not recorded What it is for Continuously correct short-term frequency and area-control error deviations in the upward direction. Notes from the source The 2025 requirement methodology remained unchanged for 2026; duration reflects the RTC+B implementation approved in NPRR1282. Checkpoint recap Expected within 5 s · Minimum sustained 30 min What the source does not state The source states the response deadline and a minimum delivery period. It does not state a maximum duration, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which. Sources Service specification 2025 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2025 Service specification 2026 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2026 Rules NPRR1282, Energy Storage Resource State of Charge and Ancillary Service Duration Updates (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · rule change · published 5 December 2025
Contingency reserve
Responsive Reserve Service RRS	Response type post-contingency and manual Trigger subtype-specific; frequency thresholds and deployment criteria are defined in ERCOT protocols and operating guides Dispatched by frequency-responsive capability and/or ERCOT instruction, depending on qualified resource and reserve subtype	No deadline established 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.	Minimum obligation at least 30 min	Through day-ahead; real-time, co-optimized Pricing design ancillary-service capacity clearing price
Full record for Responsive Reserve Service — document bound, page for these figures not recorded What it is for Arrest frequency decline after a contingency and provide capacity responsive to ERCOT deployment instructions. Notes from the source 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. Checkpoint recap Minimum sustained 30 min What the source does not state The source states a minimum delivery period. It does not state a response time or a maximum duration, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which. Sources Service specification 2025 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2025 Service specification 2026 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2026 Rules NPRR1282, Energy Storage Resource State of Charge and Ancillary Service Duration Updates (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · rule change · published 5 December 2025 Service specification Nodal Operating Guide (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · operating guide · published 5 December 2025
Ramping reserve
ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service ECRS	Response type post-contingency and manual Trigger deployed for qualifying frequency events or system conditions under the protocols; requirement methodology also considers forecast ten-minute net-load ramp risk Dispatched by ERCOT deployment instruction; qualified resources must meet ECRS response requirements	Expected within 10 min	Minimum obligation at least 1 h	Through day-ahead; real-time, co-optimized Pricing design ancillary-service capacity clearing price
Full record for ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service — document bound, page for these figures not recorded What it is for Restore frequency and replenish responsive reserves following significant frequency deviations, and cover defined net-load ramp risks. Notes from the source 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. Checkpoint recap Expected within 10 min · Minimum sustained 1 h What the source does not state The source states the response deadline and a minimum delivery period. It does not state a maximum duration, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which. Sources Service specification 2026 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2026 Rules NPRR1282, Energy Storage Resource State of Charge and Ancillary Service Duration Updates (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · rule change · published 5 December 2025 Rules NPRR1339, ECRS and Responsive Reserve Clean-up (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · pending rule change context
Non-Spinning Reserve Service Non-Spin	Response type manual Trigger requirement methodology considers physical responsive capability and forecast thirty-minute net-load ramp risk Dispatched by ERCOT deployment instruction	Expected within 30 min	Minimum obligation at least 4 h	Through day-ahead; real-time, co-optimized Pricing design ancillary-service capacity clearing price
Full record for Non-Spinning Reserve Service — document bound, page for these figures not recorded What it is for Provide additional dispatchable capacity when real-time reserve conditions or forecast ramps require it. Notes from the source Current requirement calculation changed for 2026; use the applicable annual methodology rather than treating a historical procurement range as a product constant. Checkpoint recap Expected within 30 min · Minimum sustained 4 h What the source does not state The source states the response deadline and a minimum delivery period. It does not state a maximum duration, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which. Sources Service specification 2025 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2025 Service specification 2026 ERCOT Methodologies for Determining Minimum Ancillary Service Requirements (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · market notice · published 1 January 2026 Rules Current Nodal Protocols (opens in a new tab) ERCOT · rules library

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.

Where this comes from

Official sources

Rules

Service specification

Market explainer

ERCOT Goes Live with Real-Time Co-optimization Plus Batteries ERCOT

Capacity-mechanism explainer

Current as of 2 August 2026 · from the Global Electricity Market Catalogue v1.2.0 (compiled to 4 August 2026, CC BY 4.0, rendered here with wording edited for readability). 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.

Nearby markets

ERCOT