The Electric Reliability Council of Texas asked residents and businesses to conserve electricity for four hours early Monday morning. The Texas grid manager predicted “tight” grid conditions amid expected wintry conditions.
Texans saw arctic conditions across the state on January 15, with temperatures in the teens and snow and ice creating dangerous road conditions. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth expects the frigid weather to continue across the state through Tuesday, with a brief warmup on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the agency’s latest update.
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) announced a voluntary conservation request on January 14, asking that Texans conserve power between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on January 15. Officials anticipated low operating reserves amid “very high demand, and unseasonably low wind.”
“ERCOT continues to use additional tools to manage the grid reliably, including using reserve power, calling upon reductions by large electric customers that have volunteered to lower their energy use, and bringing more generation online sooner. ERCOT is also working with out-of-state Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Market Participants to obtain additional power generation capacity, if available,” said the grid operator in its announcement.
“ERCOT has obtained Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) enforcement discretion, which allows a generator to extend its service/run-time/operations to help meet demand, if needed, and maintain grid reliability.”
Currently, grid operational reserves are meeting demand; however, demand is expected to exceed capacity on Tuesday. At some point between January 16 and 17, demand is expected to exceed 86,000 megawatts, while seasonal capacity will only be just above 82,000 megawatts.
ERCOT announced on Monday afternoon that it had been able to avoid emergency operations due, in part, to the conservation efforts of residents and businesses. A new all-time winter peak demand record of 75,559 MW was set in the 9-10 a.m. hour on Monday.
Because similar weather conditions are expected for Tuesday morning, ERCOT is once again asking for voluntary electricity conservation on Tuesday between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.
ERCOT will provide updates on the situation as warranted.
