TEXAS, USA — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has asked Texans to voluntarily conserve energy Thursday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., as the power grid has a "high potential to enter emergency operations," officials said.
ERCOT was forecasting a strong demand for electricity in Texas on Thursday, as temperatures were once again expected to climb into the triple digits across the state.
ERCOT officials said conservation was needed Thursday because operating reserves were expected to be low for several hours in the afternoon "due to low wind-power generation and high demand."
ERCOT is also requesting that all government agencies, such as city and county offices, "implement all programs to reduce energy use at their facilities."
"ERCOT is not experiencing emergency conditions at this time, but forecasts are showing a high potential to enter emergency operations this evening because of expected low wind-power generation and high demand," the release said.
As of shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, ERCOT's expected demand for power Thursday evening was forecasted to slightly exceed the grid's capacity.
Forecasts show that, starting at 7:40 p.m., the state's demand for power is expected to hit 81,259 megawatts and the capacity is expected to be just below that at 81,115 megawatts. Demand is forecasted to continue to exceed supply until around 8:40 p.m.
It's worth noting that forecasted demand and capacity for electricity can fluctuate throughout the day, and the capacity has been known to increase as demand goes up.
Despite the forecast, the grid was still operating normally during the day Thursday, with more than 6,500 megawatts in reserve.
ERCOT said it was working with out-of-state operators to obtain extra power generation capacity for Thursday. The agency is also asking large electric customers to volunteer lowering their usage, and officials are working to bring more power generation online.
Before ERCOT's ask to conserve energy Thursday, the agency issued a weather watch this week due to the extreme temperatures across Texas. ERCOT on Sunday issued an alert asking Texans to conserve energy for several hours, but the alert expired at 10 p.m. Sunday.
ERCOT said the alert was issued due to extreme temperatures, continued high demand and unexpected loss of thermal generation.
On Thursday, ERCOT's two largest generation sources, solar and natural gas, both had some capacity available, with solar having the highest amount, with around 9,000 megawatts available.
Texas' current record of energy use is 85,116 megawatts, which was set on Aug. 10. ERCOT forecasts show that the record may be broken again this week.