ERCOT Issues Conservation Appeal To Texans And Texas Businesses

Appeal Effective Immediately Monday 07.11.22

AUSTIN, TX, July 10, 2022 – With extreme hot weather driving record power demand across Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is issuing a Conservation Appeal. They are asking Texans and Texas businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity on Monday, July 11, between 2:00 and 8:00 pm. ERCOT also issued a Watch for a projected reserve capacity shortage from 2:00 to 8:00 pm. At this time, they expect no system-wide outages.

Conservation is a reliability tool ERCOT has deployed more than four dozen times since 2008 to manage grid operations successfully. This notification is issued when projected reserves may fall below 2300 MW for 30 minutes or more.

ERCOT encourages all-electric customers to visit the Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) Power to Save or their electric provider’s websites to get essential conservation tips. According to the PUC, reducing electricity use during peak times includes turning up your thermostat a degree or two, if comfortable, and postponing running major appliances or pool pumps during afternoon peak hours.

ERCOT continues to use all tools available to manage the grid effectively and reliably, including using reserve power and calling upon large electric customers who have volunteered to lower their energy use.

ERCOT emphasizes that the call for conservation is limited to the hours of 2:00 to 8:00 pm.

Factors driving the need for this meaningful action by customers:

• Record high electric demand. The heat wave that has settled on Texas and much of the central United States is driving increased electric use. Due to the heatwave, other grid operators are operating under similar conservative operations programs as ERCOT.
• Low wind. While solar power generally reaches near-full generation capacity, wind generation generates significantly less than what it historically developed in this period. Current projections show wind generation is less than 10 percent of its ability.

Under currently projected scenarios, the performance of the generation fleet Monday is:

The total forecasted demand is 79,671 MW.

How to track electricity demand

• View daily peak demand forecast, current load, and available generation at http://www.ercot.com.
• Follow ERCOT on Twitter (@ERCOT_ISO) and Facebook (Electric Reliability Council of Texas).
• Sign up for the ERCOT mobile app (available for download at the Apple App Store and Google Play).
• Subscribe to the EmergencyAlerts list on http://lists.ercot.com.

Consumer assistance

Public Utility Commission of Texas Hotline – 1-888-782-8477