ERCOT asks power plants to possibly cancel planned maintenance to meet demand of extreme heat anticipated this weekend

Generic photo of Texas power grid (KPRC 2)

HOUSTON – ERCOT has issued an Advanced Action Notice Tuesday for Texas power plants to prepare for higher than usual customer demand due to the high temperatures forecasted for Mother’s Day weekend.

Power plants are being told that planned maintenance may have to be canceled to ensure our state’s grid has enough reserve capacity. This action is part of ERCOT’s plan to keep an increased amount of reserve energy at the ready to avoid tight grid conditions during times of peak demand.

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At this time, ERCOT is not asking consumers to conserve energy.

ERCOT released the following statement:

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is anticipating extreme hot weather in the region Friday, May 6th through Monday, May 9th and may experience larger than normal demand for power.

ERCOT will deploy all the tools available to us to manage the grid reliably. ERCOT is coordinating closely with the Public Utility Commission, generation resource owners and transmission utilities to ensure they are prepared for the extreme heat. ERCOT has asked power plants across the region to postpone planned outages and to return from outages already in progress in order to serve Texans this weekend.

At this time, ERCOT projects there will be sufficient generation to meet this high demand for electricity.


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