ERCOT Issues Voluntary Notice of Conservation Due to Extreme Heat – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

ERCOT and the Texas Public Utilities Commission are asking Texas to voluntarily reduce electricity use Sunday evening, due to extreme temperatures and an unexpected loss of heat generation.

ERCOT’s Notice of Voluntary Preservation is effective Sunday, August 20, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Central Time. The agency said they are not under emergency conditions and that voluntary conservation is a widely used tool to help reduce demand over a set period of time, usually in the late afternoon and evening.

Today’s Voluntary Conservation Notice is part of ERCOT’s Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS), which alerts the public of grid conditions. ERCOT requires all government agencies (including city and county offices) to implement all programs to reduce energy use at its facilities. ERCOT uses Additional tools to reliably manage the grid, including standby power use, and advocacy of cuts by large electricity customers who have volunteered to lower their energy use and bring more generation online sooner.”

ERCOT and PUCT are asking Texas to take simple energy conservation steps to reduce demand on the grid.

• Turn up the thermostat a notch or two, if it’s safe to do so.
• Avoid using large appliances such as washers and dryers.
• Turn off and unplug unnecessary lights and devices.
• Set your pool pumps to run early in the morning or overnight instead of during peak hours.

PUCT’s Power to Save website has tips for reducing electricity use in homes, businesses and more thatsaving rgy Tips are available at TXANS (ercot.com).

On Saturday, North Texas broke the 2011 record with a high temperature of 108 degrees, and the 2011 record of 107 degrees was also broken on Sunday.

Yesterday, ERCOT set a new peak demand record for the weekend of 84,805 MW. In 2022, peak demand in August is 78,465 MW. This summer, ERCOT set 10 new all-time demand records. Last summer, ERCOT set 11 new peak demand records.