ERCOT says normal operations returning after issuing Energy Emergency Alert 2 on Wednesday evening
UPDATE: ERCOT has announced that normal operations are returning after issuing an Energy Emergency Alert 2 around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday evening.
During the alert, the operating reserves dipped to almost 2,100 MW left.
ERCOT officials said normal operations have resumed across the state.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has issued a conservation appeal due to continued high temperatures, high demand, low wind and declining solar power generation on Wednesday evening, officials said.
As a result, ERCOT is asking Texas consumers to conserve electricity use, if safe to do so, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. Wednesday night.
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Officials said Wednesday's conservation appeal does not indicate ERCOT is experiencing emergency conditions at this time. Current forecasts are showing a potential for low reserves this evening because of continued high temperatures, high demand, low wind and declining solar power generation into the evening hours.
Consumers can help the ERCOT grid by conserving energy, especially during peak hours of 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Please conserve electricity by:
· Raising your thermostat by a degree or two, if safe to do so.
· Avoid using large appliances, such as washers/dryers and dishwashers.
· Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances.
· Set pool pumps to run early morning or overnight; shut off during peak hours.
If conditions worsen, ERCOT said may issue a directive to curtail power delivered to customers, which requires transmission and distribution utilities like CenterPoint Energy to implement controlled outages due to power generation shortfall. Controlled outages are planned emergency measures designed to avoid potentially longer and more widespread power outages for customers. There are three levels of Energy Emergency Alerts (EEA), and controlled outages are only implemented as a last resort to maintain reliability of the electric system, and they are done with the intent to rotate outages in the electric service territory based on system conditions.