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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Texans asked to conserve electricity amid dangerous heat wave

Soaring temperatures and a lack of rain this summer have caused drought conditions in nearly all of Texas’ 254 counties.

HOUSTON (CN) — Texas’ grid operator has asked residents to conserve electricity Monday afternoon, raising the specter of rolling blackouts with temperatures projected to reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Austin and San Antonio.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the flow of power to more than 26 million customers in the state, about 90% of the state’s electricity load, issued a "conservation appeal" Sunday as a heat wave shows no signs of abating this week.

ERCOT advised Texas residents and businesses to turn up their thermostats a degree or two, avoid running their washers and dryers and pool pumps, and unplug unnecessary electronics from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday.

“This notification is issued when projected reserves may fall below 2300 MW [megawatts] for 30 minutes or more. … ERCOT emphasizes that the call for conservation is limited to the hours of 2-8 p.m.,” the grid manager said in a statement.

National Weather Service branches in Houston, Dallas and Central Texas have issued excessive heat advisories, warning of the possibility of heat-related illnesses for people engaged in strenuous outdoor activities or who don’t have air conditioning in their homes. They advised Texans to drink plenty of water, limit outdoor activities to early or late in the day, wear light clothing and sunscreen and check on elderly family members.

“Temperatures will reach up to 110 degrees [Fahrenheit] and heat indices could reach as high as 112 in isolated locations,” according to the Monday forecast of the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office.

Soaring temperatures and a lack of rain this summer have caused drought conditions in nearly all of Texas’ 254 counties, save for a handful at its southern tip on the Rio Grande, the state’s border with Mexico.

The state’s daily power demand typically peaks in August but the usage has ramped up early this year due in part to the state’s rapid population growth—Texas gained nearly 4 million residents from 2010 to 2020, more than any other state, U.S. Census data shows.

ERCOT said lights winds are also to blame for the lack of reserve power capacity.

Wind turbines in the state have the capacity to generate 35,152 megawatts of electricity—one megawatt can power about 200 homes on a hot summer day.

But ERCOT said from 2 to 3 p.m. Monday, it’s “tightest hour” for electricity demand, turbines are expected to be cranking out just 2,698 megawatts, 8% of their capacity.

To prevent a catastrophic failure of Texas’ grid, ERCOT mandated rolling blackouts in February 2021 amid frigid temperatures caused by Winter Storm Uri, leaving millions without power for days. Hundreds died of hypothermia and some from health complications after they lost power to their life-sustaining medical equipment.

In response, Texas lawmakers passed regulations requiring electricity producers to weatherize their plants.

Lauding the legislation at a signing ceremony in June 2021, Governor Greg Abbott said, “Everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid.”

But Beto O’Rourke, Abbott’s Democratic opponent in the November 2022 gubernatorial election, blamed the Republican governor Monday for the state’s latest electricity problems.

“We can’t rely on the grid when it’s hot. We can’t rely on the grid when it’s cold. We can’t rely on Greg Abbott. It’s time to vote him out and fix the grid,” O’Rourke tweeted.

Follow @cam_langford
Categories / Energy, Environment, Government, Regional

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