ERCOT issues Voluntary Conservation Notice to Texans due to extreme heat

HOUSTON - The hotter-than-normal temperatures in Texas have caused the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to ask for energy conservation.

On Tuesday, ERCOT announced they were issuing a Voluntary Conservation Notice for Tuesday, June 20 from 4 to 8 p.m. due to extreme heat and a forecasted record demand.

Texans are being asked to voluntarily reduce electric use if they are able to.

ERCOT says they are not in emergency operations. They have a Weather Watch in place for certain days in June due to expected high temperatures.

In their release, they request all government agencies (including city and county offices) to implement all programs to reduce energy use at their facilities.

Conserving energy during high temps

Reliant Energy is asking customers to conserve energy on Tuesday as high temperatures continue. The message did not come from ERCOT, but energy demand is expected to be high.

ERCOT has said there is enough capacity in the grid to meet the forecasted demands after examining its Supply and Demand dashboard.

On Monday, the company broke the June peak demand record, unofficially, with 79,304 MW, passing last June’s record of 76,718 MW. Last summer, ERCOT set 11 new peak demand records. The current all-time record of 80,148 MW was set on July 20, 2022.

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Why are Texans being asked to conserve energy?

Extreme Heat. Much of Texas is seeing very high temperatures for an extended period.
Record Demand. Texas is seeing record demand due to the heat.
Thermal Outages. Forced thermal generation power plant outages are higher than normal.
Solar. Solar generation declines into the evening hours, before completely going offline at sunset.
Wind. Low wind generation compared to historic performance during summer peak.

For customer assistance contact the Public Utility Commission of Texas Hotline at 1-888-782-8477.