Texas grid operator urges electricity conservation as heat wave drives up demand – By Sneha Dey and Mitchell Ferman (Texas Tribune) / July 11, 2022
The state’s grid operator asked that Texans voluntarily reduce their power use on Monday as the blistering heat continues — and said no rolling blackouts are expected this week.
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With a punishing heat wave across Texas driving record high power demand, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas late Sunday sent out a request that Texans cut back on their energy use on Monday.
ERCOT, the state’s power grid operator, asked Texans to turn up their thermostats and postpone running major appliances between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday. ERCOT has also called on large electric customers to lower their electricity use. Nearly all industrial-scale Bitcoin miners in the state have shut off their machines in response to the call, representing over 1% of total grid capacity, Bloomberg News reported.
Total forecasted power demand is expected to surpass 79 gigawatts on Monday, ERCOT said — which would set another record. The previous record-high demand on the ERCOT grid during summer was 74.8 gigawatts, in August 2019.
An ERCOT spokesperson told The Texas Tribune on Monday that the grid operator does not expect rolling blackouts this week.
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