SAN ANTONIO — ERCOT Vice President of Planning Woody Rickerson told board members last week the wind would be an important factor this summer.
"Resource adequacy for high-demand days is going to be very dependent on wind. That's just the reality of where we are. Every day we will have to look at what the wind is doing," Rickerson said.
ERCOT reported a demand of up to 80,018 Megawatts of power (MW) on Wednesdays. The power grid only has a maximum of 72,000 MW between natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants according to the last ERCOT statement.
This means wind and solar power must make up the difference, and solar power is only available during the day.
Fortunately, solar power is producing around 10,000 MW between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and wind provided between 20,000 MW and 23,000 MW throughout Wednesday. KENS 5 shows the wind forecast staying consistent throughout the rest of the weed and into the weekend.
Meanwhile, CPS Energy is still asking residents to conserve power through Thursday.