TEXAS, USA — ERCOT has issued another reminder to Texas residents and businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity on July 13.
The company released its first notice on July 10. EROCT officials have released two notices in just three days.
There may be some Texas residents who may have questions about the grid, as the heat increases, what could all this mean for your home?
Bill Flores, ERCOT Board Vice Chairperson Consumers said, "cut back when we ask him to conserve so I expect that Texas will do the same thing today and any other day that we have where we have these challenges".
"If we can get more wind, we can get more regular temperatures then we'll be back to something that we call normal," said Flores.
Flores said while Texas is blessed to be a fast-growing state, that growth also brings unique challenges
"Legislature in the last session, gave the Public Utility Commission and the Railroad Commission and ERCOT substantial new tools to be able to deal with challenges like this. The reason we're not having blackouts today is that ERCOT, PUC, and everybody stepped up to the plate." Flores said.
According to Thomas Overbye, Electrical & Computer Engineering professor, the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Service (TEES) is doing more than just stepping up to the plate.
"As a researcher here, I certainly see the value of research and here at the Smart Grid Center, we're doing a lot of research in helping to make the grid better, more resilient. We're looking for hidden failure mechanisms, things like that. I think that's something that is providing a good value to the state of Texas", said Overbye.
Flores said it will be at least a year before ERCOT is able to implement everything the legislature has otherized. So we will continue to see these near-term challenges.
According to Flores, some ways to reduce your electricity are turning up your thermostat a degree or two, and postponing running major appliances or pool pumps.
