System Inertia, Frequency & Real-Time Conditions

ERCOT system-wide synchronous inertia and frequency from the public Real-Time System Conditions CDR page, one observed snapshot per publication, approximately every minute.

Ancillary Services data ERCOT market

Query with the agent

Native record

ERCOT system x publication snapshot

1-minute snapshot publication cadence

Evidence

Observed market data

Published observations from the named source

Time basis

Point-in-time records

UTC · event_time

Overview

system_inertia_mw_s is stored rotating energy in MW·s; divide by 1000 for GW·s. frequency_hz is system frequency in Hz. The same timestamp carries instantaneous time error, consecutive BAAL exceedance minutes, demand, net load, capacity excluding ancillary services, wind, solar, and signed DC-tie flows. This is the series displayed by ERCOT Radar’s System inertia and System frequency widgets. History accumulates from first ingestion; the upstream snapshot has no historical archive for backfill. It is system-wide, not plant-level or regional inertia, and does not provide inertia forecasts or a current critical-inertia threshold.

Query contract

Read with FINAL to retain one current row per event_time.

Analysis rules

Inertia is stored energy in MW·s, not MW or an inertia constant in seconds. Divide by 1000 to display GW·s, as Radar does.
Do not sum inertia or frequency across snapshots. Report a timestamped observation, or a named average/minimum/maximum over the requested window.

Interpretation

System-wide synchronous inertia does not establish inertia at a plant or region, synthetic inertia, or the cause of a frequency event.
Null inertia is an unavailable reading, not zero. This source publishes neither an inertia forecast nor a critical-inertia threshold.

Access

Query from your own tools

Use the guarded HTTP endpoint directly, or connect an MCP client and load the dataset contract with describe_data before calling query_data.

ERCOT MCP API reference

HTTP endpoint

POST /api/v1/datasets/ercot_real_time_system_conditions/query

Need the full history of this dataset in Snowflake, Databricks or your own storage? Data services delivers it on a schedule.

Schema16

Column

Type

event_timeDateTime64(6, 'UTC')

frequency_hzNullable(Float64)

instantaneous_time_error_secondsNullable(Float64)

baal_exceedance_minutesNullable(Float64)

actual_system_demand_mwNullable(Float64)

average_net_load_mwNullable(Float64)

total_system_capacity_mwNullable(Float64)

total_wind_output_mwNullable(Float64)

total_pvgr_output_mwNullable(Float64)

system_inertia_mw_sNullable(Float64)

dc_e_flow_mwNullable(Float64)

dc_l_flow_mwNullable(Float64)

dc_n_flow_mwNullable(Float64)

dc_r_flow_mwNullable(Float64)

dc_s_flow_mwNullable(Float64)

ingested_atDateTime64(6, 'UTC')

Sample data

event_time	frequency_hz	instantaneous_time_error_seconds	actual_system_demand_mw	average_net_load_mw	total_system_capacity_mw	total_wind_output_mw	total_pvgr_output_mw	system_inertia_mw_s	dc_e_flow_mw	dc_l_flow_mw	dc_n_flow_mw	dc_r_flow_mw	dc_s_flow_mw	ingested_at
2026-10-06 16:07:00.000000	60.004	0.533	57950	21603	93639	3384	32443	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 16:07:13.200788
2026-10-06 16:06:00.000000	60.016	0.52	57950	21603	93463	3371	32554	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 16:06:12.308724
2026-10-06 16:05:00.000000	60.005	0.526	57879	21226	93647	3371	32554	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 16:05:12.664708
2026-10-06 16:04:00.000000	60.013	0.517	57879	21226	93613	3371	32554	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 16:04:13.025527
2026-10-06 16:03:00.000000	60.017	0.501	57879	21226	93444	3371	32554	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 16:03:13.117331
2026-10-06 16:02:00.000000	60.017	0.485	57879	21226	93138	3371	32554	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 16:02:12.194461
2026-10-06 16:01:00.000000	60.015	0.468	57879	21226	91849	3250	32606	269995	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 16:01:12.545324
2026-10-06 16:00:10.000000	60.019	0.454	57879	21226	91981	3250	32606	269995	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 16:00:18.305504
2026-10-06 15:59:00.000000	60.017	0.43	57671	21069	92783	3250	32606	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:59:12.713516
2026-10-06 15:58:00.000000	60.014	0.416	57671	21069	93164	3250	32606	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:58:13.106774
2026-10-06 15:57:00.000000	60.017	0.401	57671	21069	93369	3250	32606	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:57:12.006450
2026-10-06 15:56:00.000000	60.01	0.394	57671	21069	93554	3186	32495	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:56:12.255964
2026-10-06 15:55:00.000000	60.001	0.389	57671	21069	93479	3186	32495	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:55:13.561412
2026-10-06 15:54:10.000000	60.003	0.382	57414	21012	93500	3186	32495	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:54:15.359132
2026-10-06 15:52:50.000000	60.013	0.365	57414	21012	93767	3186	32495	269995	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:53:12.074589
2026-10-06 15:52:00.000000	60.015	0.353	57414	21012	93785	3186	32495	269995	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:52:12.260339
2026-10-06 15:51:00.000000	60.007	0.341	57414	21012	93257	3159	32547	269995	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:51:12.130448
2026-10-06 15:50:10.000000	60.007	0.334	57414	21012	93039	3159	32547	269995	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:50:12.475647
2026-10-06 15:49:00.000000	59.994	0.335	57109	20689	93649	3159	32547	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:49:12.200869
2026-10-06 15:48:00.000000	59.986	0.345	57109	20689	93689	3159	32547	269995	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:48:12.778584
2026-10-06 15:47:00.000000	59.983	0.358	57109	20689	93925	3159	32547	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:47:12.266629
2026-10-06 15:46:00.000000	59.983	0.377	57109	20689	93793	3078	32407	270000	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:46:12.435458
2026-10-06 15:45:00.000000	59.993	0.389	56856	20521	93815	3078	32407	270638	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:45:15.453168
2026-10-06 15:44:00.000000	59.992	0.393	56856	20521	93639	3078	32407	270638	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:44:14.460859
2026-10-06 15:43:00.000000	60.015	0.383	56856	20521	93655	3078	32407	270638	∅	∅	∅	∅	∅	2026-10-06 15:43:11.887623

Coverage

100.0% complete0 gap days48 days with data

Show coverage history

Coverage: 100.0%Days with data: 48Gaps: 0

2026

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