The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has asked Texans to reduce power consumption through Friday of this week, according to an ERCOT press release issued on Monday.
ERCOT cited potential record power consumption for June and forced generation outages as the reason for the request. Today's peak load forecast is 73,000MW, compared to the highest ever peak demand in the month of June of 69,123MW.
In Texas, generator owners have reported 11,000 MW of generation currently on forced outages due to repairs, ERCOT said, adding that typical outages on hot summer days is around 3,600 MW.
ERCOT said it would conduct an analysis to figure out why so many units are out of service.
Wind output is expected to be between 70%and 80% of typical wind output.
ERCOT is asking residents to refrain from unnecessary power, and it is also asking businesses to shut down or reduce non-essential production.
If demand exceeds supply, ERCOT will begin emergency operations to protect the grid from uncontrolled outages.
Twitter was awash with a flurry of angry Tweets as ERCOT announced its request, as for many, the power outages due to the triple-digit heat comes a bit too soon after the power outages during February's Texas Freeze.
The announcement also comes just as another state is preparing for blackouts, with California's worst drought in 90+ years is threatening its ability to produce power from hydroelectric dams.
In early May, ERCOT said that it anticipated "there will be enough generation to meet the summer 2021 peak demand of 77,144 MW. Based on this forecast, the ERCOT region will have a 15.7% reserve margin this summer season."
The catastrophic power failures in Texas during the February freeze resulted in ERCOT resignations, firings, and a state investigation into the matter.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More
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