Scorching summer temperatures have finally arrived as highs reach the 90s this week.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas warns the state could see record-breaking power usage this summer.
“In fact, we anticipate that our peak usage could be at least 1,600 megawatts higher than the all-time summer record set in August of 2016,” ERCOT spokesperson Leslie Sopko said.
The peak usage will collide with the recent retirement of old generators.
“Based on normal conditions, we do not anticipate the need to initiate rotating outages. This would be the cases only under very extreme circumstances,” Sopko said. “So, if we see unusually low wind output or an extreme number of generation outages that could increase the risks.”
ERCOT manages the flow of power to 24 million Texans and represent around 90 percent of the state electric load.
