With the winter storm encompassing the entire state and temperatures expected to be colder this evening and into tomorrow morning, the agency that manages the state’s power grid is asking Texans to conserve electricity, if safe to do so, from 6 a.m.- 9 a.m. Tuesday (Jan. 16).
ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) is predicting higher demand Tuesday morning as Texans return to work and schools reopen after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
ERCOT is expecting similar conditions on Wednesday (Jan. 17) and will continue to closely monitor conditions and keep the public informed through the agency’s communication channels, the agency said in a news release.
This morning (Jan. 15), ERCOT said, emergency operations were avoided due to conservation efforts by Texas residents and businesses, combined with additional grid reliability tools.
ERCOT set a new January peak demand of 70,982 MW in the 8-9 p.m. hour Sunday, passing the previous January peak demand record of 65,915 MW set Jan. 17, 2018, in the 7-8 a.m. hour.
Today, ERCOT surpassed that January peak and set a new all-time winter peak demand record with 75,559 MW in the 9-10 a.m. hour.
The conservation appeal for Tuesday does not indicate the grid is experiencing emergency conditions at this time, ERCOT said, adding that the agency will remain vigilant and communicate further if conditions change because of continued freezing temperatures and very high demand in the morning hours.
If anyone is experiencing an outage at this time it is local in nature and not related to overall grid reliability, ERCOT said, adding that customers experiencing outages should contact their local electric provider.
Conservation is a widely used industry tool that can help lower demand for a specific period of peak demand time, which is typically during the morning hours in winter, ERCOT said.
The grid operator asking all government agencies (including city and county offices) to implement all programs to reduce energy use at their facilities until at least 9 a.m. Tuesday.
ERCOT said the request to reduce usage is based on:
- Weather. Most of Texas is seeing extremely cold temperatures for an extended period of time.
- Demand. Texas is experiencing record breaking demand due to the cold weather.
- Solar. Solar generation isn’t available in the early morning hours, which is a peak demand time during winter, and slowly ramps up as the sun rises.
- Wind. Wind generation is forecasted to be lower than seasonally expected in the early morning hours.
Tips for conserving energy can be found on the ERCOT website.