The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is asking Texans to conserve electricity from 3 to 7 PM today, as hot weather and higher-than-average energy use strain the state's electric grid.
"[Electric] capacity is expected to be very tight over the peak today, and ERCOT operators are closely monitoring the situation," ERCOT said in a media release.
Forecast for peak demand today is more than 68,684 megawatts. Texas hit an all-time record yesterday when electric use exceeded 67,929 megawatts.
“There’s a possibility that we may have to go to a level 2 emergency today which authorizes operators to drop the interruptible loads – large customers paid to be dropped in a level 2 emergency. Dropping the load resources provides extra capacity for the remaining customers,” Kent Saathoff, vice president of system planning and operations said in the press release.
“We’re expecting record high temperatures and electricity demand to continue for the remainder of the week, so we are asking consumers and businesses to reduce their electricity as much as they are able for the remainder of the week,” Saathoff said.
