Texas power regulator warns of tight grid conditions through Friday
Subfreezing temperatures cover large swath of Lone Star State
Looking back on the Great Texas Freeze one year later
This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of the 2021 Great Texas Freeze that left an estimated $24 billion in damages.
HOUSTON – As arctic air spreads over Texas, the agency responsible for managing the state’s power grid warned of tight conditions through Friday.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas sent a notice to power plants across the state Wednesday that demand is expected to be high while the cold temperatures are in the state.
"To ensure all possible generation is available to serve system demand, ERCOT has requested that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) exercise its enforcement discretion with respect to generator exceedances of TCEQ air permit limitations," officials wrote in the notice.
The agency has not issued a notice for consumers to reduce their usage, as of Thursday morning.
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According to ERCOT’s website, the forecast shows ample supply to meet the demand that is expected through Thursday.
This is yet another test of the state’s grid since a February 2021 winter storm that plunged most of the state into subfreezing weather. The bitter cold led to frozen fuel lines and equipment at power plants, prompting blackouts that lasted for days. More than 200 people died in the state during the storm.
In January, ERCOT’s interim CEO Brad Jones assured Texans that the grid was more prepared for winter than ever before.
On Thursday morning, temperatures in the state ranged from the teens in the Panhandle to the low 40s in coastal, southern and western parts of the state.
The forecast calls for more bitter cold across the state Friday before temperatures moderate by the weekend.