Prompted by forecasts of extreme weather, on 4 August ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) issued a Weather Watch covering August 6-7 in response to forecasted higher temperatures, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves. Grid conditions are expected to be normal during a Weather Watch, but ERCOT will continue to monitor conditions closely and ‘will deploy all available tools to manage the grid, continuing a reliability-first approach to operations.’
ERCOT set a new, unofficial August and all-time peak demand record of 83 593 MW on 1 August, while its 6 day Supply & Demand dashboard is showing the possibility of new all-time peak demand records during the next weeks, but ERCOT says there is currently enough capacity to meet forecasted demand.
This summer, ERCOT has already set 7 new all time peak demand records. Last year, ERCOT set 11 new peak demand records, surpassing 80 GW for the first time ever.
- Owing to ongoing forecasts of higher temperatures, higher electrical demand and the potential for lower reserves, ERCOT extended its Weather Watch to Friday, 11 August.
