The state’s power regulator warned late Sunday night of a “reserve capacity shortage” on Monday afternoon that could lead to some outages, and asked the public for conservation.
The critical time for conservation will be from 2 to 8 p.m., ERCOT said in a news release. No system-wide outages are expected, it said.
“Conservation is a reliability tool ERCOT has deployed more than four dozen times since 2008 to successfully manage grid operations. This notification is issued when projected reserves may fall below 2300 MW for 30 minutes or more,” the release states.
According to the Public Utility Commission, ways to reduce electricity use during peak times include 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,” the release added.
