The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is asking Texans to reduce electric use as much this week following a significant number of outages and potential record electric use for the month of June.
“We will be conducting a thorough analysis with generation owners to determine why so many units are out of service,” said ERCOT Vice President of Grid Planning and Operations Woody Rickerson. “This is unusual for this early in the summer season.”
According to electricity providers, the number of outages should decrease throughout the week.
Providers within ERCOT’s service have reported approximately 11,000 MW of generation was on forced outage for repairs at the beginning of the week. Of that, approximately 8,000 MW was thermal. This compares 3,600 MW, the typical range of thermal generation outages on hot summer days. One MW typically powers around 200 homes on a summer day.
Wind output for Monday is expected to be 3,500 to 6,000 MW, roughly 1,500 MW lower than what is typically available for peak conditions. Wind output is expected to increase as the week goes on.
ERCOT encouraged the following actions to help reduce electric use:
Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher – every degree of cooling increases your energy use by six to eight percent.
Turn off lights and pool pumps and avoid using large appliances like ovens, washing machines and dryers.
If you don’t need something – we are asking you to turn it off and unplug it if possible.
View daily peak demand forecast, current load and available generation at http://www.ercot.com.
For more information, call Public Utility Commission of Texas Hotline at 1-888-782-8477.
—Citizen staff report