ERCOT asks residents to conserve electricity use to avoid energy emergency

Ercot issues another weather watch

AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) - The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is asking Texas residents to conserve electricity use to avoid entering "emergency conditions."

Operating reserves are expected to be low for several hours Thursday afternoon and into the evening. Residents are being asked to conserve electricity from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. "if it's safe to do so."

ERCOT says the lower reserves are due to low wind-power generation, high demand and extreme temperatures. And if that continues into Thursday evening, ERCOT will potentially enter emergency operations. CBS News Texas checked the supply and demand chart on ERCOT's website and as of 12:45 p.m. the chart shows the predicted demand is higher than ERCOT's predicted capacity available. And it stays that way until about 8:40 p.m. as you can see in the gallery below.

In the meantime, to manage the grid, ERCOT says it is using reserve power; asking for reductions by large electric customers; and bringing more generation online sooner. It also says it's working with out-of-state operators and market participants to have more generation capacity.

This summer, ERCOT says it has set 10 new all-time peak demand records. On August 10, the new, all-time, unofficial peak demand record was 85,435 MW. That's compared to August 2022's peak demand of 78,465 MW.

Johannah Grenaway

Johannah Grenaway is a digital content producer for CBS Texas. She creates engaging and impactful content, placing the latest updates right in the palm of the community's hands. She's been serving North Texas since she joined CBS Texas in June 2023.