Texas Residents Asked Once Again to Reduce Electric Usage

Well...that didn't take long.

Just a week or so into some of our hottest temperatures of the Summer and ERCOT (The Electric Reliability Council of Texas) is asking Texans to reduce electric use as much as possible through this upcoming Friday (June 18).  ERCOT attributes the tight grid conditions to "a significant number of forced generation outages combined with potential record electric use for the month of June."

Oncor is echoing this call for conservation in its role as the transmission and distribution company, or the poles and wires company that delivers electricity to many Texans. Oncor does not own or operate power generation facilities, or sell, purchase or offer electricity retail services.

According to generation owners, the number of outages should decrease throughout the week. Hopefully, this will be an anomaly in their systems since we've got at least another 3 months of some of the hottest months of the year ahead of us.

"We will be conducting a thorough analysis with generation owners to determine why so many units are out of service," said ERCOT Vice President of Grid Planning and Operations Woody Rickerson. "This is unusual for this early in the summer season."

Oncor suggests the following to help conserve electricity usage:

• Turn off any unnecessary lights and equipment.
• Turn thermostat up 2 to 3 degrees.
• Set programmable thermostats to higher temperatures when no one is home.
• Use fans to feel 4 to 6 degrees cooler.
• Limit use of large appliances (i.e., dishwasher, washer, dryer, etc.).
• If you cook indoors, use a microwave or slow cooker.
• Close blinds and drapes during late afternoon.
• Schedule pool pumps to run in the early morning or overnight hours.