The Texas grid operator — Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) — is asking residents to lower their power consumption this week “as much as possible” as temperatures over 100 degrees in some spots, combined with outages, could strain the grid.
An unusual cold spell this February left millions of residents without power underscoring the difficulty Texas can have during bouts of extreme weather. Over 100 people died in Texas amid the energy blackouts last winter.
Texas is the only state in the continental United States with an independent and isolated grid, which allows it to avoid federal regulation but limits its ability to draw emergency power from other grids. ERCOT also operates the only major U.S. grid that does not have a capacity market – a system that provides payments to operators to be on standby to supply power during severe weather events.
Several gas and coal plants are currently offline to fix mechanical problems at various plants, an ERCOT official said, but he did not offer details on how many plants are affected or where the plants are located, or whether any of the plant repairs are due to the winter freeze.
The peak load record for energy usage for Monday was expected to surpass a previous record set in 2018.
Texas Senator extraordinaire Ted “Cancun” Cruz flew the Texas coop in February while his constituents dealt with an energy crisis.
Cruz also criticized California’s policy in 2020 during peak temperatures.
And while Texas struggles with their own grid failures, Senator Ted is busy in his office pledging allegiance……..to the flag?