Electricity Statism: From Supply Shortages to Conservation Requests (shortages to follow?)

“Please take these simple actions to help reduce electric use: Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher – every degree of cooling increases your energy use by six to eight percent; Turn off lights and pool pumps and avoid using large appliances like ovens, washing machines and dryers; If you don’t need something – we are asking you to turn it off and unplug it if possible.”

Here is a June 24th announcement from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on Monday June 24, 2021.

Tight grid conditions expected due to high number of forced generation outages

Grid operator requests energy conservation

AUSTIN, TX, June 14, 2021 – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is asking Texans to reduce electric use as much as possible today through Friday, June 18. A significant number of forced generation outages combined with potential record electric use for the month of June has resulted in tight grid conditions.

Generator owners have reported approximately 11,000 MW of generation is on forced outage for repairs; of that, approximately 8,000 MW is thermal and the rest is intermittent resources. According to the summer Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy, a typical range of thermal generation outages on hot summer days is around 3,600 MW. One MW typically powers around 200 homes on a summer day.

“We will be conducting a thorough analysis with generation owners to determine why so many units are out of service,” said ERCOT Vice President of Grid Planning and Operations Woody Rickerson. “This is unusual for this early in the summer season.”

According to generation owners, the number of outages should decrease throughout the week.

Wind output for today is expected to be 3,500 to 6,000 MW between 3 and 9 p.m. This is roughly 1,500 MW lower than what is typically available for peak conditions. Wind output is expected to increase as the week goes on.

Today’s peak load forecast may exceed 73,000 MW. The peak demand record for June is 69,123 MW set on June 27, 2018 between 4 and 5 p.m.

Please take these simple actions to help reduce electric use:

• Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher – every degree of cooling increases your energy use by six to eight percent.
• Turn off lights and pool pumps and avoid using large appliances like ovens, washing machines and dryers.
• If you don’t need something – we are asking you to turn it off and unplug it if possible.

 Visit the Power to Save website or your electric provider for more ways to conserve.

How to track electricity demand

• View daily peak demand forecast, current load and available generation at http://www.ercot.com.
• Follow ERCOT on Twitter (@ERCOT_ISO) and Facebook (Electric Reliability Council of Texas).
• Sign up for the ERCOT mobile app (available for download at the Apple App Store and Google Play).
• Subscribe to the EmergencyAlerts list on http://lists.ercot.com.

Consumer assistance

Public Utility Commission of Texas Hotline – 1-888-782-8477

-end- The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers — representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and 710+ generation units. It also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for nearly 8 million premises in competitive choice areas.

ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. Its members include consumers, cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities, transmission and distribution providers and municipally owned electric utilities.