Editor’s note: The T&D World Conference & Exhibition September 11-14 will cover the topic of reliability. Click here more information on our speakers, and click here to register.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates a large part of Texas’ power grid, issued an alert Friday for Sunday through Tuesday, while also saying power grid conditions are expected to be normal throughout.
The grid operator set a new unofficial record for July and all-time peak June 13, with 81,406 MW of demand. Last year, ERCOT set 11 new peak demand records, surpassing 80 GWs for the first time ever, according to the grid operator.
According to ERCOT’s announcement, there is a chance of an even higher peak demand over the period of this alert. There is currently enough capacity to meet this demand, according to ERCOT.
At this time, ERCOT’s alert did not call for any curtailment measures to be taken by customers but encouraged them to sign up for notifications on grid conditions.
An ERCOT Weather Watch is an advance notification of forecasted significant weather with high demand. Grid conditions are expected to be normal, but due to forecasted conditions, operating reserves may be lower, according to ERCOT.
