The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) announced Monday that it needs Texans to reduce their electricity use “as much as possible” this week due to tight grid conditions.
ERCOT, the electric grid operator for the state, was not widely known by most residents until the February winter storms, which resulted in rolling and total power outages for millions of Texans amid the coldest weather conditions in decades. Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to pin the blame for the power failures on ERCOT.
On Monday, ERCOT issued a Conservation Alert through Friday because “a significant number of forced generation outages combined with potential record electric use for the month of June has resulted in tight grid conditions,” the news release said. Generator owners reported about 11,000 MW of generation is on forced outage for repairs.
“We will be conducting a thorough analysis with generation owners to determine why so many units are out of service,” said ERCOT Vice President of Grid Planning and Operations Woody Rickerson. “This is unusual for this early in the summer season.”
ERCOT is asking residents to take the following actions to help reduce electric use:
- Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher – every degree of cooling increases your energy use by 6-8%
- Turn off lights and pool pumps and avoid using large appliances like ovens, washing machines and dryers
- If you don’t need something, turn it off and unplug it if possible.
Visit the Power to Save website or your electric provider for more ways to conserve.
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