Monday | January 15, 2024
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The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is issuing a Conservation Request for Tuesday, January 16 from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ERCOT is asking Texans to conserve electricity during this time, if safe to do so, as Texans return to work and schools reopen.

ERCOT is expecting similar conditions on Wednesday, January 17.

Monday morning, ERCOT avoided emergency operations due to the conservation efforts by Texas residents and businesses, combined with additional grid reliability tools.

ERCOT is not experiencing emergency conditions at this time, but continued freezing temperatures and very high demand puts additional strain on the grid. Help from Texans to conserve electricity will assist grid reliability.

At this time, if you are experiencing an outage, it is not related to grid reliability and you should report it through SmartHub (web or app) or by calling 1-866-632-3532.

All consumers are asked to help by conserving electricity when and if safely able.

Conservation Tips:

  • Adjust your heat setting on your thermostat one to two degrees lower than normal.
  • Limit use of large appliances (i.e., dishwasher, washer, dryer, etc.), especially during peak times.
  • Make any small changes you can to save electricity in your home or business.

Why the Request to Reduce Usage?

  • Weather. Most of Texas is seeing extremely cold temperatures for an extended period of time.
  • Demand. Texas is experiencing record breaking demand due to the cold weather.
  • Solar. Solar generation isn't available in the early morning hours, which is a peak demand time during winter, and slowly ramps up as the sun rises.
  • Wind. Wind generation is forecasted to be lower than seasonally expected in the early morning hours. 

Stay Updated

  • Sign up for TXANS notifications on the ERCOT mailing list.
  • Download the ERCOT app (available through Google Play or App Store)
  • Monitor current and extended conditions at ERCOT.com
  • Follow ERCOT on X (@ERCOT_ISO) and Facebook (Electric Reliability Council of Texas).
  • Subscribe to ERCOT EmergencyAlerts, which are not sent through TXANS, and are only sent under emergency conditions.

 

Medina EC Notifications:

As always, Medina EC will monitor ERCOT grid conditions, conservation requests and energy emergencies. If emergency requests that involve ERCOT mandated rotated forced outages for consumers, Medina EC will comply with those as required and will send notifications as quickly as humanly possible*. Please ensure the contact information on your account is correct. You can do that through SmartHub or by calling us at 1-866-632-3532.

Notifications include:

  • Email to accounts with email addresses on file.
  • Social media posts.
  • News item to our website.
  • Text messages to consumers signed up for MEC ERCOT text notifications. Sign up by texting ERCOT to 1-855-429-1119.
  • You are also encouraged to sign up to receive push notifications directly from ERCOT. You can do this by downloading the ERCOT app (Google Play or App Store) and enable push notifications for alerts.

*Please note: Notices are sent out as quickly as humanly possible, but the situation on the grid can change very quickly. If ERCOT's reserve margins reach critical condition and ERCOT calls for load shed, the outages may begin before all notifications are able to be sent out. Phone lines are likely to be overwhelmed.