Understanding ERCOT's voluntary conservation notice issued during heatwave

Understanding ERCOT's voluntary conservation notice

As the scorching heat continues, the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a volunteer conservation notice until 8 p.m. FOX 26's Natalie Hee explains what that means.

HOUSTON - As the sweltering heat continues, ERCOT has issued a Voluntary Conservation Notice for Texans from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

BACKGROUND: ERCOT issues Voluntary Conservation Notice to Texans due to extreme heat

ERCOT insists that the state's grid is not experiencing emergency conditions and that the conservation notice was issued for precautionary measures.

Monitoring the Texas power grid on ERCOT website

We are continuing to monitor the potential strain the heat could have on the power grid. FOX 26's Lina De Florias explains how to read the ERCOT website and what to look for when things get serious.

Texans are encouraged to turn off and unplug cell phone chargers, TVs and kitchen appliances not being used, avoid running laundry or dishwasher loads during peak hours of the day, and turn up thermostats by a few degrees.

While these measures might help ERCOT save energy, David Kinchen with Energy Ogre says it doesn’t necessarily make as much of a difference for your monthly energy bill.

"If you let your house get to 82 degrees, you’re going to have to run the AC to get it to come down," Kinchen said. "In these temperatures -- 80 degrees at night temperatures, that might mean it’s like 2 AM before it comes back to comfortable."

Conserving energy during high temps

Reliant Energy is asking customers to conserve energy on Tuesday as high temperatures continue. The message did not come from ERCOT, but energy demand is expected to be high.

Instead, Kinchen recommends adjusting consumption habits by looking at your household's total daily energy use.

"If you have an electric dryer, you could run it on eco-mode, and it’ll take a little bit longer to dry, but it will use about half the amount of electricity," Kinchen said. "Your dishwasher has a heat and dry button; unclick that button and what it’ll do is it’ll get hot from the water or heat up a little and then if you open up the dishwasher, let it sit for a bit. It’ll eventually dry."

"If you run your dryer at the hottest part of the day, it’s sucking all that air and pushing it outside the vent and sucking all that temperature from outside," he continued. "If you do it at 8 a.m., it’s going to be pulling in some cooler air."

Ultimately, Kinchen says the key to lowering your bill is to simply get a better price rate. Right now, he says customers should be paying around 7 cents per kilowatt-hour on average. Those paying more than that might consider shopping around.

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Here's a list of organizations that provide help for families needing assistance on utility bill payments. Certain eligibility requirements must be met to quality.