Will the grid hold up in the next few days?

- After a fairly mild Sunday in Houston, the cold will ooze into the area tonight.

- ERCOT requests Texans conserve electricity Monday morning during expected high demand.

- Texans asked to conserve energy Monday as expected demand likely to put strain on electric grid.

- What is the Electric Reliability Council of Texas?

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas's electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load. ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) in the United States. ERCOT works with the Texas Reliability Entity (TRE), one of six regional entities within the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) that coordinate to improve reliability of the bulk power grid.

__________

1/15/24

- Space Center Weather: As the freeze deepens, ERCOT asks for statewide power conservation.

Good morning. Although the coldest weather for Houston will actually come over the next two nights, much of the rest of Texas is experiencing the lowest temperatures of this Arctic outbreak right now. Because of this, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT is asking Texans to conserve power from 6 am to 10 am CT on Monday. Expect another call for conservation on Tuesday morning.

The agency has not said whether it will institute rolling blackouts if demand exceeds power reserves, but that certainly seems possible. You can track power grid status in real time, here. Please note that, at this time, there is no reason to believe that we will see extended blackouts like we experienced during the deep freeze in February 2021.