# ERCOT — news releases (`ercot`)

| | |
|---|---|
| kind / priority | `utility` / 2 |
| config | `config/connectors/ercot.yaml` |
| parser | `news_press_release_v1` (`apps/worker/src/connectors/news/press-release-parser.ts`) with `urlDate` — records identical to `news_article_v1`, see `docs/PROJECT-EXTRACTION.md` |
| schedule | daily (seed index + releases) |
| license / attribution | Public information of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas; facts and links only — "Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ercot.com)" |
| stored per item | text kept (`keepText: true`) |

## What it is
The Texas grid operator's news releases. Seed `/news/releases` (current year) plus `?year=2024` / `?year=2025` for backfill; releases live at `/news/release/<MMDDYYYY>-<slug>` (44 across 2024–2026). Relevant topics: the **Batch Zero** large-load interconnection process (PGRR145, approved by the PUCT on 2026-06-18), long-term load forecasts driven by large loads, PUCT approvals, seasonal outlooks. Podcast, weather-alert and university-partnership releases are not about data centers and are dropped by the parser.

## Quirks
- **No date markup** on release pages (no `<time>`, no meta, no dateline) — the date comes from the URL slug through the `urlDate` param (`(?<m>\d{2})(?<d>\d{2})(?<y>\d{4})`), method `url:date`.
- `robots.txt` disallows `/content/news`, `/content/gridinfo`, `/misapp`, `/misdownload`, `/mp/export?` … The **Large Load Interconnection Status report** is a MIS data product behind those paths and is deliberately not fetched; `/services/rq/large-load-integration` (allowed) only links application forms and attestations, no queue data. Release pages under `/news/release/` are allowed.
- Every page embeds the full site mega-menu ("MIS LOG IN About ERCOT …") before the headline; `news_press_release_v1` starts the kept text at the headline.
- Releases mention large loads and data centers in policy terms (75 MW threshold, GW of requests) — events only, no project records expected.

## Verification
Verified live on 2026-09-12 with `scripts/try-connector.ts` (dry run, nothing persisted): 45 URLs discovered (1 seed + 44 releases via `?year=` pagination), 5 fetched at L1 (0 credits): seed sentinel, 2 dated news_events — *PUCT Approves ERCOT's Batch Zero Process for Connecting Large Electricity Users…* (2026-06-18, `power_infrastructure` / `power_agreement`, 75 MW mention) and *ERCOT Releases Preliminary Long-Term Load Forecast for Years 2026–2032* (2026-04-15) — 2 off-topic releases skipped, 0 projects, 0 errors. `--url` on the Batch Zero release → 1 news_event, `publishedAt` from the URL.