Thursday | September 7, 2023
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ERCOT has issued an emergency alert as of September 6, 7:26 p.m. They will begin shutting off power to large commercial and industrial businesses to try to conserve electricity and deploying tools to meet demand. 

At this time, homes and small businesses will not be impacted. However, if shutting off power to large loads is not enough to relieve the strain on the state grid, forced outages will be implemented.

Conservation is critical! 

  • Turn up your thermostat 2-3 degrees; Adjust it even higher if you leave the home.
  • When in a room, use fans to feel 4-6 degrees cooler.
  • Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances.
  • Avoid using large appliances.
  • Turn off pool pumps. 
  • 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.

 

What are Forced Outages?

  • These are load shed events controlled by ERCOT (also called blackouts, brownouts, or rolling /controlled outages)

 

Why the Request to Conserve?

  • Demand is exceeding available supply. Voluntary conservation efforts by consumers were not enough to reduce demand to be within the available supply.
  • Wind. Wind generation is forecasted to be low this afternoon during peak demand time and does not increase until very late in the evening.
  • Solar. Solar generation declines into the evening hours, before completely going offline at sunset.
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Following the conservation tips above can help prevent rotating outages. We know that any outage is inconvenient and ask that consumers work with each other to help to prevent outages for the state!

 

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 Twitter (@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: 

Sign up for text notifications from Medina EC by texting ERCOT to 1-855-429-1119; These will come from Medina EC as able based on the information we have been provided. You can learn more at MedinaEC.org/ERCOT.