Texas avoids blackouts under ERCOT alert, with more 100-degree weather to come

AUSTIN — Sky-high heat prompted Texas’ grid operator to call on residents to conserve electricity as the system was pushed to near-emergency conditions Monday and another all-time demand record was broken.

A conservation alert from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas was in effect for much of Monday afternoon and evening as demand threatened to outpace supply. The alert brought back memories of the power grid’s near failure during the February 2021 freeze that killed more than 200 Texans.

Late Sunday, ERCOT sought to allay fears of rolling blackouts, even as it put out operation messages that alluded to dire market conditions. But as an extended heat wave pushed the grid to the limit, reserves remained outside of emergency conditions. The lights — and air conditioners — stayed on.

Frustration with a grid that still appears vulnerable prompted political backlash Monday.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke renewed his attacks on Gov. Greg Abbott over the grid’s stability.

“The grid will keep failing us until we fix it,” O’Rourke tweeted. “Abbott will keep failing us until we defeat him.”

In an interview with KVUE-TV in Austin, Abbott said the grid performed “remarkably well,” as expected.

“We’ve made it through all of these tough days with plenty of supply, and we believe that going forward with the new tools ERCOT now has and the PUC now has, we will be able to make it through the summer,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abbott campaign spokesman Mark Miner accused O’Rourke of “scare-mongering.”

“Beto should stop cheering for the failure of Texas and admit the reforms pushed by Governor Abbott have strengthened the state grid,” Miner said in a news release.

Dennis Bonnen, a former Texas House speaker, accused O’Rourke’s supporters of wishing for disaster for political gain. Bonnen also noted that conservation requests are relatively commonplace.

ERCOT has used them 48 times since 2008, when projected reserves fall to a certain level, according to a news release.

ERCOT’s grid and market dashboard showed demand reaching a peak of 78,379 megawatts at roughly 4:40 p.m. That’s a new record and the seventh time the all-time demand record has been broken since June 12, according to ERCOT spokesman Chris Schein.

It might not last, though.

An ERCOT forecast issued at 5:30 p.m. projected demand topping out at north of 79,000 megawatts Tuesday and Wednesday. Either would be a record.

ERCOT had not issued any further conservation alert as of 8 p.m. Monday, though grid experts told The Dallas Morning News that they would not be surprised if it did at some point this week while high heat continues.

The forecast is expected to top 100 degrees every day this week, with heat index values from 103 to 107.

Republicans blame wind energy

Some Republicans focused on the lack of production from wind energy, which generates relatively low amounts of electricity during high heat days.

ERCOT projected wind energy would be generating “significantly less” than expected on a typical day in July. Wind power bottomed out at a meager 746 megawatts Monday at 1 p.m., less than one-third of what the grid operator projected in its Sunday night forecast.

Austin-based energy consultant Doug Lewin said ERCOT’s focus on low wind production appeared to be a thinly veiled political attack on wind energy. “They’ve got great staff, they’re technocrats, they’re smart, and then they just put themselves in the middle of this political firestorm.”

Wind energy has long been a punching bag for Republicans, who see the resource’s daily dip in production during daylight hours as a liability to Texas’ electric grid.

“A hot summer’s day at noon, you’re going to have low wind [production],” Lewin said. “If this is news to ERCOT, then that’s distressing and begs a lot of questions. … Their own numbers from seven days ago basically projected that perfectly, so why wait until 10 o’clock the night before and say low wind is the problem?”

Grid expert Alison Silverstein, an energy consultant who formerly worked with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Public Utility Commission of Texas, also said any blame placed on wind energy would be misplaced, “particularly at a time when the PUC and politicians are beating their chest over, ‘We need dispatchable thermal energy because it is the only thing we trust to keep the lights on.’”

While wind’s daily loss of production comes just as high heat increases electric demand from air conditioning, the resource produces energy at a much cheaper price than thermal energy sources, such as coal and natural gas.

“Wind is doing exactly what historically we expect it to do, and no one installs wind with the expectation that you will get 100% capacity production on a hot summer day,” Silverstein said.

As the conservation alert came to an end Monday, several North Texans said they attempted to conserve energy throughout the day, including turning off lights, setting thermostats to 78 degrees and avoiding large appliances.

Some said they did nothing different, while Terrell Bell of Denison shut the air off completely to avoid damaging air conditioning units in case of a possible power surge.

”I shut my air OFF when I left for work so power surge could not damage AC if there was a blackout. Will be returning to a HOT home. However better safe than sorry!” he said in a tweet.

Staff writer Nataly Keomoungkhoun contributed to this report from Dallas.

How to conserve energy

ERCOT recommends taking these actions to help the effort to reduce electric use:

• Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher. Every degree of extra cooling will increase energy usage 6% to 8%.
• Use ceiling and portable fans to circulate cool air.
• Install patio covers, awnings and solar window screens to shade your home from the sun.
• Close interior blinds, drapes or shades to block the sun and heat during warm weather.
• Use a clothesline instead of a clothes dryer.
• On warm days, raise your thermostat to 80 degrees or higher if leaving for more than four hours.
• Turn off lights and try to save activities such as cooking, laundry and dishwashing for early morning and evening.
• Avoid use of large appliances (such as ovens, washing machines, dryers).
• Businesses should minimize the use of electric lighting and electricity-consuming equipment.
• Large consumers of electricity should consider shutting down or reducing nonessential processes.
• If you don’t need something, turn it off and unplug it.

About ERCOT alerts

As Texans experience extreme summer weather conditions, they might see more alerts and communications from ERCOT triggered by tight grid conditions and maintenance outages.

When electric supply and demand can’t be balanced by the power grid, ERCOT begins taking precautions to avoid blackouts. These include conservation alerts and three levels of Energy Emergency Alerts (EEAs).

Conservation alerts are triggered as needed when tight operating reserves are expected to pose a reliability concern. Conditions are considered “normal” when reserves remain greater than 3,000 megawatts. Anything below or near that triggers a series of notices, advisories and alerts, including a conservation alert. The grid operator will encourage the public to cut back its electricity usage and issue updates via news release, social media posts, etc.

Level one emergency alerts (EEA1) are triggered when reserves fall below 2,300 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes. The grid operator considers a conservation alert and sends out emergency notifications along with public news releases.

Level two emergency alerts (EEA2) are triggered when reserves fall below 1,750 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes. The grid operator sends a conservation alert and sends out emergency notifications along with public news releases.

Level three emergency alerts (EEA3) are triggered when reserves fall below 1,375 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes. The grid operator might implement controlled rotating outages at this point. It will send out the same alerts as before, plus activate a call center as needed.

How to check on Texas energy

To find up-to-date information about demand and generation ability, Texans can visit the ERCOT website.