In light of a forecast featuring the lowest temperatures seen in Texas in decades and the accompanying likelihood of record usage across the Texas grid, the Public Utility Commission of Texas has been working closely with government entities, ERCOT, and other organizations across the power industry to prepare to have adequate resources in the coming days.
“While people often associate the dog days of summer with high electricity consumption, plummeting temperatures predicted for the next few days will place significant demand on the ERCOT grid,” said Chairman DeAnn Walker. “The electric system response under stress will, as always, require significant coordination between the Commission, ERCOT, and all entities responsible for providing safe and reliable power.”
Based on the current load forecast and predictions of record low temperatures, ERCOT could set a new all-time winter peak demand record on the morning of Monday, February 15. (The current winter peak demand record of 65,915 MW was set on Jan. 17, 2018 between 7 & 8am)
In addition to downloading the ERCOT mobile app (on both the Apple Store and Google Play) and following ERCOT on Twitter at @ERCOT_ISO, Texans are advised to bookmark the PUC’s Storm Resources page at http://puc.texas.gov/STORM for helpful advice and features like a statewide outage restoration map.
