The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) revealed earlier this month that the organization set a new, unofficial August and all-time peak demand record of 83,593 megawatts (MW) on August 1.
ERCOT has set seven new all-time peak demand records this summer, the organization highlighted in a statement posted on its site. On June 27, the organization set an all time peak demand record of 80,787 MW, which was surpassed on July 12 (81,351 MW), July 13 (81,406 MW), July 17, (81,911 MW), July 18 (83, 592 MW), July 31 (83,047 MW), and August 1, ERCOT’s site outlines.
The July 31 and August 1 records are deemed unofficial until final settlements occur, ERCOT’s site highlights. Last year, ERCOT set 11 new peak demand records, surpassing 80 GWs for the first time ever, the statement posted on its site noted.
ERCOT highlighted in the statement that its six day supply and demand dashboard was showing the possibility of new all-time peak demand records this week. The organization also said in the statement that it had issued a weather watch from August 6 to 7 “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 noted in the statement.
“ERCOT continues to monitor conditions closely and will deploy all available tools to manage the grid, continuing a reliability-first approach to operations,” it added.
As of August 7, 04.40 CDT, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s National Weather Service website was transmitting 10 excessive heat warning alerts and six heat advisory alerts for Texas.
As of August 8, 03.42 CT, ERCOT’s website was reporting “normal” grid conditions and showing that there is enough power for current demand.
Weather Watch, Voluntary Reduction
Last month, ERCOT announced in a statement posted on its site that it had issued a weather watch for July 16 to 18 “due to forecasted higher temperatures, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves”.
In that statement, ERCOT highlighted that it had set a new unofficial July and all-time peak demand record of 81,406 MW on July 13.
In June, ERCOT revealed in a statement published on its site that it had issued a weather watch from June 25 to 30 “due to forecasted higher temperatures and higher electrical demand”. ERCOT announced in that statement that it had set a new June peak demand record of 79,304 MWs on June 19.
Also in June, in a separate statement, ERCOT asked Texans to voluntarily reduce electricity use, “due to extreme temperatures and forecasted record demand”. The organization issued a voluntary conservation notice, effective June 20 from 4pm to 8pm CT.
“The voluntary conservation notice is part of ERCOT’s Texas Advisory and Notification System alerting the public of grid conditions”, ERCOT said in the statement.
“ERCOT is not experiencing emergency conditions. Voluntary conservation is a widely used industry tool that can help lower demand for a specific period of peak demand time, which is typically late afternoon into the evening hours,” the organization added.
ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service
During the same month, ERCOT revealed in another statement that it had launched the ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS), which it described as a new daily procured ancillary service.
“As energy demand continues to grow in Texas, adding ECRS will support grid reliability and mitigate real-time operational issues to keep supply and demand balanced,” ERCOT noted in that statement.
“As summer temperatures begin to rise across Texas and with high demand forecasted, we will continue to use all operational tools available, including implementation of new programs like ECRS,” ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said in the statement.
“ERCOT will also execute previous sessions’ legislative reforms, such as our weatherization inspections, and we’ll continue our reliability-first approach to operations, always prioritizing grid reliability,” he added.
ERCOT manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers, representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load, the organization’s site notes, adding that it 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.
Back in December last year, an ERCOT spokesperson told Rigzone that the Texas grid is “more reliable and resilient than ever before, 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
