ERCOT is issuing another Weather Watch, anticipating higher demand with the potential for lower reserves Wednesday through Sunday. A call for conservation has not been made at this time.
ERCOT, or the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc., is the agency that manages the majority of the state's power grid. On Monday they issued a TXANS Weather Watch warning for Aug. 23-27 due to higher temperatures, higher demand and the potential for lower reserves.
During that same stretch, NBC 5 meteorologists forecast record-breaking heat as temperatures continue to climb into the triple-digits each day.
ERCOT's 6-day Supply and Demand dashboard is forecasting the demand for power being close to the all-time peak of 85,435 MW, which was set on Aug. 10. New weekend demand records were set on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19-20, with 84,805 MW and 85,116, respectively.
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This summer, ERCOT has set 12 new all-time peak demand records, one more than last summer, and surpassed 80 GWs for the first time ever.
ERCOT's Weather Watch is an advanced notification that is sent out under normal grid conditions about 3-5 days before a weather event to tell the public there may be a higher demand for electricity due to a forecasted event and that they should pay attention to changing conditions.
In May, ERCOT announced the launch of the Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS) which includes two alerts, the ERCOT Weather Watch and a Voluntary Conservation Notice where Texans will be asked to voluntarily reduce usage during peak times -- if it is safe to do so.
