Electric providers are asking customers to ease up on their demand for power during peak times.
Gexa Energy sent out emails asking customers to limit their electric usage, especially during the peak hours of 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Tweeted a few hours later that the need for conservation has ended, but continued to encourage people to conserve when possible.
Among the tips:
- Setting air conditioner thermostats two to three degrees higher and setting programmable thermostats higher when no one is home.
- Using fans, which can make the temperature feel four to six degrees cooler.
- Setting pool pumps to run in the early morning or overnight and shutting them off completely between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
- Turning off or unplugging non-essential lights and appliances.
- Avoid using large appliances like ovens and washing machines during the peak hours.
Residential customers aren't the only ones being asked to conserve, Gexa's email asks businesses to minimize use of lights and electricity-consuming equipment as much as possible during peak hours and large companies are asked to shut down or reduce non-essential production processes.
ERCOT set another new weekend peak demand record today. Electricity demand reached 71,864 MW between 5 and 6 p.m., surpassing yesterday’s record by 218 MW. View actual loads: https://t.co/PsQRlROs1l pic.twitter.com/pZj6CqxTJB
— ERCOT (@ERCOT_ISO) August 11, 2019
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the flow of electricity for about 90% of the state's customers, says there are no rotating outages at this time.
Although utility companies have switched much of the state power grid to cheaper and cleaner sources of power such as natural gas, solar and wind, demand from triple-digit weather can still strain supplies that's why customers are asked to do what they can to help prevent rolling blackouts or brownouts on the state's electric grid.
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