Enigin Update - Texas asked to Reduce Energy Use due to Heat
TEXAS is facing an energy supply problem due to suffering from high temperatures and the increased demand on the grid in combating the heat, leading to a call for energy efficiency.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued a power watch this week to businesses and consumers across the state, encouraging customers to conserve electricity during peak hours from 3 to 7 p.m.
"The ERCOT region is continuing to experience record high temperatures throughout the state which is causing high electricity usage,” said Kent Saathoff, vice president of system planning and operations. “We expect to break our all-time peak electricity demand Tuesday and Thursday, depending on weather conditions.”
The current peak demand record is 65,776 MW set Aug. 23, 2010. One megawatt of power is enough electricity to power about 200 homes in Texas during hot weather when air conditioners are running for long periods of time, compared to 500 homes under normal conditions.
“At this time, we have sufficient generation to meet the demand this week, but it will be tight over the peak hours, particularly 4-5 p.m., which means that significant generation outages could make us short of operating reserves,” Saathoff said.
If the daily operating reserves drop below the target thresholds, the grid operators will initiate emergency procedures, a series of progressive steps that authorize additional capacity from other grids and from dropping interruptible loads – large industrial customers under contract to be dropped in emergency situations.
“We would appreciate consumers and businesses reducing their electricity use from 3-7 p.m. as much as they are able,” Saathoff said.
Businesses should minimize the use of electric lighting and electricity-consuming equipment as much as possible. Large consumers of electricity should consider shutting down or reducing non-essential production processes.
Although this will be a temporary measure, business will do well to consider improving their overall energy efficiency for long term benefits for the environment, energy security and reduce costs - turning to Enigin and their range of energy efficiency solutions is a cost effective way to start saving and these solutions are all available locally through Enigin Distributors.
Picture of Austin Texas by Payton Chung under Creative Commons License
