Texas power grid: ERCOT issues conservation appeal for Friday, Aug. 25
HOUSTON - ERCOT is asking Texas residents and businesses to conserve electricity use, if safe to do so, on Friday afternoon and evening.
The conservation appeal has been issued from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday.
"Operating reserves are expected to be low for several hours this afternoon into the evening due to low wind-power generation and high demand," ERCOT wrote on social media.
ERCOT says the conservation appeal doesn’t indicate that ERCOT is experiencing emergency conditions right now, but forecasts show the potential to enter emergency operations Friday evening.
ERCOT is asking all government agencies to implement programs to reduce energy use at their facilities.
ERCOT says they are also using additional tools to manage the grid reliability including using reserve power, calling on large electric customers that have volunteered to lower their usage, bringing more generation online sooner, and working with out-of-state Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Market Participants to get more power generation capacity.
This is a second day in a row that ERCOT has issued a conservation appeal. Texans were asked to conserve electricity for seven hours Thursday afternoon and evening.
"Yesterday, ERCOT avoided emergency operations due to the conservation efforts by Texas residents and businesses, combined with timely rainfall in the Houston area, improved wind conditions, and additional grid reliability tools," ERCOT wrote in a news release.
ERCOT says conditions are expected to persist through the weekend because of extreme heat. An ERCOT Weather Watch went into effect on Wednesday and remains in effect until Sunday.
Texans can see grid conditions and forecasts on the ERCOT dashboard.