TEXAS, USA — There is still a need to monitor the state power grid and operators say it will be that way until at least Friday, Aug. 11. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) extended the "Weather Watch" until then.
It's not a voluntary conservation notice, just a way to ask Texans to be mindful of grid conditions. ERCOT has issued the "Weather Watch" because operators are forecasting higher demand for electricity and that the power grid's reserved supply is very limited.
Dr. Robert Hebner, director of the center for electromechanics for the University of Texas at Austin said he is pleased with how the grid has held up so far this summer.
"I give a whole lot of people in the state a whole of credit for keeping the air conditioners running this summer," he said. "It's been a hard one to do it."
Hebner said operators made the right judgment for the summer season and that shows through the grid holding up through the sweltering heat wave.
However, he does have a little worry as the extreme heat shows no signs of remorse because it's just more strain on the power grid.
"You just start getting nervous about what's going to break and we don't have a lot of margin here for things to break," Hebner explained. "We really need the heat wave to break first before pieces of the grid start breaking."
Hebner says grid operators assess the weather and are able to reasonably accurately predict what the demand for electricity is going to be. Then, they have to figure out how to meet the demand that day.
Sometimes that looks like voluntarily conservation notices or "Weather Watch" alerts.
Hebner says that's ERCOT making sure they get their judgments and predictions right, and not wrong like they did in the 2021 winter storm.
"I think we're in the little too much stage just to make sure that never happens to us again, and that's not a bad place to be," he explained. "It's a little more expensive than it needs to be, but you get a lot more reliability."
In a statement to 6 News on Monday, ERCOT said they have taken multiple steps to ensure the grid is more reliable. Those steps include the following:
- New Ancillary Service, ECRS. The ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service went live June 8 and brings a 10-minute response to our other Ancillary Services.
- Weatherization and Inspections. Electric generation units and transmission facilities weatherize and are inspected by ERCOT.
- Firm Fuel Supply Service. An additional source of fuel onsite for generators benefits the grid by providing a redundant, or additional, fuel source should there be a natural gas scarcity.
- Scheduled Maintenance Period. ERCOT has worked with generators and transmission operators to schedule their maintenance so they could prepare their equipment for winter.
- Fast Frequency Response Service. This is a new addition to our ancillary services that provides a group of generators that can power up quickly during operating conditions that change rapidly.
- Reliability Unit Commitments. ERCOT can bring more generation online sooner when needed.
- Critical Supply Chain and Critical Infrastructure Map. This map was created to share the locations and connectivity of all the critical parts of the Texas power infrastructure.
- Improved Communications. Agencies are seeing improved communications through both the Texas Department of Emergency Management and Texas Energy Reliability Council.