Conservation needed to avoid electricity shortage
In anticipation to the National Weather Service forecast for temperatures to drop into the teens tonight and tomorrow, ERCOT has procured additional generation capacity to help maintain reliable delivery of power during this extreme weather event.
“Although we have no immediate concerns for the possibility of rotating outages tomorrow morning, ERCOT will be monitoring the grid closely because additional unexpected major losses of generation could force operators and utilities to begin emergency procedures to avoid an uncontrolled statewide blackout,” Trip Doggett, CEO, said. “Rotating outages are ordered only as a last resort to ensure the security of the statewide transmission grid. “
Conservation tips:
- Turn thermostats to 68 degrees or below in the daytime and to 55 degrees at night or when leaving for the day.
- Turn off and un-plug non-essential lights and appliances.
- Avoid running large appliances such as washers, dryers, and electric ovens during peak energy demand hours.
- Close shades and blinds at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows.
- Businesses should minimize the use of electric lighting and electricity-consuming equipment as much as possible.
- Large consumers of electricity should consider shutting down or reducing non-essential production processes.
Rotating outages are controlled, temporary interruptions of electrical service, initiated by ERCOT when the power needed to run the grid is not matched by the power being provided by generation companies. In these situations, ERCOT instructs utilities to reduce consumer demand on the grid by conducting temporary outages at the local distribution level. The utilities determine the locations and durations of the rotating outages.
