The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on May 13 called on Texans to conserve power in the wake of unseasonably hot weather that drove record demand across Texas.
On the afternoon of May 13, six power generation facilities tripped offline resulting in the loss of approximately 2,900 megawatts of electricity.
In response to the events, public power utilities in Texas leveraged social media channels to urge their customers to take steps to help ease pressure on the grid.
San Antonio-based CPS Energy asked customers to set their thermostats to 78° or above and avoid the usage of large appliances during peak hours of 3-8 p.m.
In a separate tweet, the utility said: “Please know, none of the power plants referenced in ERCOT's statement are CPS Energy plants. We continue to have enough energy to supply our community. Thank you for doing your part in conserving power.”
Other Texas public power utilities and communities posting social media messages about the ERCOT announcement included Austin Energy, City of Georgetown and Lower Colorado River Authority.
On the morning of May 16, ERCOT extended an operating condition notice for the extreme hot weather with forecasted temperatures to be above 94°F in the North Central and South Central weather zones, from Friday, May 13, 2022 until Friday, May 20, 2022.
In a recent episode of APPA’s Public Power Now podcast, Woody Rickerson, Vice President of System Planning and Weatherization at ERCOT, detailed ongoing efforts by the grid operator to bolster reliability in the state.
