AUSTIN, Texas — ERCOT has issued its first Weather Watch from Wednesday, Aug. 23 to Sunday, Aug. 27 in preparation for the forecasted higher temperatures, higher electrical demand, and potential for lower reserves coming to Texas this week and weekend.
Grid conditions are expected to be normal, and ERCOT is continuing to "monitor conditions closely, and will deploy all available tools to manage the grid, continuing a reliability-first approach to operations," according to ERCOT Communications.
ERCOT set a new all-time weekend peak demand record of 85,116 MW on Sunday, and the current all-time peak demand record of 85,435 was set on Aug. 10 — in 2022, the August peak demand was 78,465 MW.
"ERCOT’s 6-day Supply and Demand dashboard is showing the possibility of new all-time peak demand records this week. The dashboards will update in real-time as the week progresses."
Texans are encouraged to sign up for grid condition notifications through TXANS, and real-time conditions can be monitored here.
According to ERCOT, a Weather Watch "is an advance notification of forecasted significant weather with higher electrical demand and the potential for lower reserves. Grid conditions are expected to be normal, and ERCOT has enough supply to meet demand. There is not a current expectation of an energy emergency."
No action is needed from Texans, but it says that "reducing electric use during peak demand times can help you save and lower demand on the grid.
Energy-saving tips can be found here.
