A weather watch takes effects Sunday and is expected to last through Friday, June 30 amid higher forecasted temperatures and higher electricity demand, ERCOT announced.
According to ERCOT, power grid conditions are expected to be normal. The purpose of the weather watch alert is to notify the people of forecasted significant weather. No action is needed, though people are advised to continue monitoring grid conditions.
Ed Hirs, an energy fellow and economics lecturer at the University of Houston, said this is part of an ongoing effort from ERCOT to be more transparent with the public after the 2021 winter storm left millions without power.
“What they’re trying to do is alert us, it’s going to be really hot. We’re going to have some stress on the grid. Not that you have to take any action, but maybe you should be prepared to,” Hirs said.
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On Saturday, families headed to free splash pads in North Texas to cool off. Kenika Bell brought her children to one in Arlington.
“You just have to deal with it and work with it, because it’s different every day. When it gets hot, it gets hot,” Bell said. “That’s the key. Stay hydrated. Make sure you have pretty of fluids, water. Make sure you have something in your stomach, or that heat wave will get you.”
Jennifer Vega of Arlington is originally from Houston and said she was used to the heat.
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“Oh yes, but this summer, it seems like it’s been very, very hot,” Vega said. “Last year, it was hot. But this year, it’s tremendous.”
While weather watch alerts are a start, Hirs said the Texas Legislature has more work to do in order to add resilience and reliability to the grid.
“Texas keeps growing. We keep having businesses move in, lots of people move in. The ability to maintain regular electricity across the grid is diminishing day by day by day,” he said. “We need to take some positive action. We need to be building plants on the grid. We can’t be just a passive-aggressive, maybe it’ll be done or maybe we’ll put the right incentives in place.”
According to ERCOT, a new June peak demand record was set on June 19, which indicates the possibility of a new all-time peak demand record next week.
