ERCOT asking Texas to ease energy consumption

Amidst some of the hottest days on record and, quite possibly, the longest span of days that Texans have suffered through such extreme heat, the agency overseeing the state’s power resources has once again asked Texans to chill out on their power usage.

The extreme leading to record power demand across Texas prompted the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to issue a formal statewide conservation appeal Sunday, July 10, asking Texans and Texas businesses to voluntarily conserve power, especially between 2-8 p.m. Monday, July 11, when ERCOT ERCOT also issued a watch alert regarding a potential reserve capacity shortage.

Although not expected, the release stated, things could get dicey during those peak use hours Monday.

Conservation is a reliability tool that ERCOT has deployed more than four dozen times now since they first tried it 2008 to successfully manage grid operations. This notification is issued when projected reserves hold potential of falling below 2300 megawatts (MW) for 30 minutes or more.

ERCOT encourages all electric customers to visit the Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) Power to Save or their electric provider’s websites to get important conservation tips.

According to the PUC, ways to reduce electricity use during peak times include turning up your thermostat a degree or two, if comfortable, and postponing running major appliances or pool pumps during afternoon peak hours.

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 stressed that the call for conservation is limited to the hours of 2-8 p.m. only.

Factors driving the need for this important action by customers:

• Record high electric demand—The heat wave that has settled on Texas and much of the central United States is driving increased electric use. Other grid operators are operating under similar conservative operations programs as ERCOT because of the heatwave.

• Low wind—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.

Under current projected scenarios, performance of the generation fleet Monday (2-3 p.m. being the time of greatest concern, is:

                                Capacity               Available              Percentage

Dispatchable      80,083                 67,913                   85%

Wind                     35,162                   2,698                     8%

Solar                      11,787                   9,557                     81%

Total forecasted demand is 79,671 MW.

The newspaper will be tracking this for a follow-up story in the this week’s printed edition

View daily peak demand forecast, current load, and available generation at http://www.ercot.com. Follow ERCOT on Twitter (@ERCOT_ISO) and Facebook (Electric Reliability Council of Texas). Sign up for the ERCOT mobile app (available for download at the Apple App Store and Google Play). Subscribe to the EmergencyAlerts list on http://lists.ercot.com.

Incidentally, when our paper edition comes out Wednesday, it will have been two months precisely since ERCOT issued its first extreme power watch this year because of the extreme heat. That went out on May 13, and temperatures have climbed up past the century mark almost every day since.

With triple degree heat known to hang on until late September in this part of Texas, it looks as they we’re in for a long hot one still.  

Please do your part to help conserve consumption.

ERCOT asks Texans to turn thermostats up to 78-degrees or more, and avoid using large appliances (dishwashers, washers and dryers) between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. through the weekend.