With extreme hot weather driving record power demand across Denton County and Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a “Conservation Appeal,” asking residents and businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity on Monday, July 11, between 2-8 p.m. due to a projected reserve capacity shortage.
Total forecasted power demand is expected to surpass 79 gigawatts on Monday, ERCOT said — which would set another record.
“At this time, no systemwide outages are expected,” the grid operator said in a statement.
“Conservation is a reliability tool ERCOT has deployed more than four dozen times since 2008 to successfully manage grid operations. This notification is issued when projected reserves may fall below 2300 MW for 30 minutes or more,” ERCOT officials said.
Texans can reduce electricity use by setting the thermostat to 78 degrees or higher; turning off lights and pool pumps; avoiding use of large appliances such as ovens, washing machines and dryers; and turning off or unplugging unused electric appliances.
ERCOT encourages all electric customers to visit the Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) Power to Save or their electric provider’s website for more conservation tips.
“ERCOT continues to use all tools available to manage the grid effectively and reliably, including using reserve power and calling upon large electric customers who have volunteered to lower their energy use,” ERCOT officials said.
Factors driving the need for energy conservation include record high electric demand and low wind generation.
“While solar power is generally reaching near full generation capacity, wind generation is currently generating significantly less than what it historically generated in this time period. Current projections show wind generation coming in less than 10 percent of its capacity,” ERCOT officials said.
View daily peak demand forecast, current load, and available generation at ercot.com.
