ERCOT Issues Weather Watch

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a weather watch from September 6 to September 8 “due to forecasted higher temperatures, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves”.

“Grid conditions are expected to be normal during a weather watch,” ERCOT said in a statement posted on its website.

“ERCOT continues to monitor conditions closely and will deploy all available tools to manage the grid, continuing a reliability-first approach to operations. There is currently enough capacity to meet forecasted demand,” ERCOT added.

In the statement, ERCOT noted that a weather watch is an advance notification of forecasted significant weather with higher electrical demand and the potential for lower reserves. There is not a current expectation of an energy emergency and no action is needed, the organization highlighted in the statement.

ERCOT pointed out in the statement that it set a new September peak demand record of 78,459 megawatts (MW) on September 4, “surpassing the previous September peak of 72,370 MW set on September 1, 2021”.

The current all-time peak demand record of 85,435 MW was set on August 10, ERCOT highlighted in the statement, adding that, this summer, the organization set 10 new all-time peak demand records. Last year, ERCOT set 11 new peak demand records, surpassing 80 GWs for the first time ever, the organization noted in the statement.

ERCOT, which announced a “strategic leadership reorganization” last week, announced a string of conservation requests recently. These occurred on August 30, August 29, August 27, August 26, August 25, and August 24, the organization’s site shows.

When Rigzone asked ERCOT if it sees more conservation requests occurring this summer, an ERCOT spokesperson said, “ERCOT continues to monitor conditions and will provide updates as necessary via our communications channels”.

ERCOT also sent Rigzone an overview of “improvements implemented that make the grid more reliable”. These include a new ancillary service (ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service), weatherization and inspections, a firm fuel supply service, a scheduled maintenance period, a fast frequency response service, reliability unit commitments, a critical supply chain and critical infrastructure map, and improved communications, ERCOT highlighted.

The last weather watch ERCOT issued was on August 21 for August 23 to August 27 “due to forecasted higher temperatures, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves”.

At the time of writing, ERCOT’s site shows that grid conditions are “normal” and notes that “there is enough power for current demand”.

ERCOT manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers, representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load, ERCOT notes on its website.

“As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 52,700 miles of transmission lines and 1,100 generation units, including Private Use Networks,” the site states.

“It also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for eight million premises in competitive choice areas,” it adds.

ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Texas Legislature.

PUCT regulates the state’s electric, telecommunication, and water and sewer utilities, implements respective legislation, and provides customer assistance in resolving consumer complaints, the organization’s website states.

At the time of writing, PUCT’s website is showing that grid conditions are “normal”.

The Texas grid is more reliable and resilient than ever before, an ERCOT spokesperson told Rigzone in December last year, adding that this was “due to landmark reliability reforms ERCOT and the PUCT have implemented in the past year and a half, including required winterization of the generation fleet, and added firm fuel supply service by a number of generators”.  

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com