COVID-19 is so far having only a limited impact on the power grid in Texas, according to grid operator the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, which started releasing pandemic updates April 7.
Calvin Opheim, ERCOT’s manager of load forecasting and analysis wrote that the grid operator is using a backcast model, which compares model results using actual weather versus actual hourly load.
“There has been little impact to the daily peaks,” according to the report. “Load remains consistently lower during the early morning hours between 6 and 10 a.m. These loads are currently 6 to 10% lower than what the model would normally predict after accounting for typical model errors.”
Weekly energy use has dropped by about 2% last week, according to the report. This is similar to the week prior, indicating COVID-19 impacts on the grid are not increasing.
At least 136 Texans have died from COVID-19, according to the April 6 Dallas Morning News. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas schools closed on March 16 and all non-essential businesses to temporarily close March 30. Abbott said April 6 that more than 85,357 Texans have been tested for COVID-19, and 7,319 have returned positive.
