ERCOT issues a weather watch, alerting Texans that they expect high demand for electricity during the blast of cold Arctic air expected to arrive Sunday that will bring extreme cold to the state.
The ERCOT weather report will be released January 15-17. Two cold fronts are expected to reach North Texas over the next week, the first arriving on Friday and the second, the Arctic Burst, on Sunday. The second front is expected to send temperatures well below freezing for an extended period.
An ERCOT weather watch is an advanced notification sent under normal grid conditions about 3-5 days before a weather event to inform the public that there may be higher demand for electricity due to an expected event and that they should pay attention to changing conditions.
Last year, ERCOT announced the launch of the Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS) which includes two alerts, the ERCOT Weather Watch and a Voluntary Reserve Notice where Texans will be asked to voluntarily reduce usage during peak times – if it is safe to do so. to do that.
At this time, a Voluntary Preservation Notice has not been issued and no action needs to be taken.
ERCOT, or Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc., is the agency that manages the state's power grid. The agency said Wednesday that peak demand in January 2023 was 65,632 megawatts, with the current all-time peak demand of 85,508 megawatts set on Aug. 10, 2023. ERCOT estimates that 1 megawatt would power about 200 homes.
