Texas Summer Heat Sets Demand Records For Electricity

HOUSTON, TX -- The summer hasn’t reached triple digits in Houston yet, but the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has already been setting new system-wide peak demand records this week.

ERCOT announced that electricity demands reached 72,192 megawatts between 4-5 p.m. on Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 71,110 megawatts set on Aug. 11, 2016.

The weather has been hot this week with temperatures hovering in the mid to upper 90s.

As a result, ERCOT has seen record-setting peak demands nearly every day this week, according to their Facebook page.

The high demand was not a surprise to ERCOT officials, who announced in April they were preparing for a record-breaking peak demand period this summer.

Texas’ electric grid hasn’t gotten a workout like this since 2011, when many in the state experienced periodic power outages along with triple-digit temperatures nearly the entire summer.

And with triple digits expected in many parts of Texas this weekend, ERCOT expects the demand to be high again.

There are certain recommendations to help conserve energy and keep your home cooler:

• Turning up thermostats to 78 when you’re at home, and using a fan or ceiling fan to circulate the air.
• Turning up the thermostat to 85 when not at home.
• Closing all drapes or curtains on windows where there’s direct sunlight.
• Turn off the lights when you leave a room, or keep them off if you don’t need them.
• Don’t use dishwashers, washing machines or other major appliances between the peak hours of 2-6 p.m.

Watch our new control room video to see how multiple visualization tools help our grid operators manage the electric system 24/7, 365 days a year. https://t.co/j3X8v1dMd3
— ERCOT (@ERCOT_ISO) June" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/ERCOT_ISO/... 26, 2018

ERCOT manages the flow of electric power to 24 million Texas customers, which represents about 90 percent of the state’s electric load, according to their website.

The ERCOT service area includes: Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, Abilene and the Rio Grande Valley.

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