Texas power grids could be strained this summer. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state's largest grid operator, said Monday it expects record-breaking demand for power during peak days this summer, alongside limited supplies of backup power. That’s why ERCOT could have to take action to prevent outages.
There should be enough power to go around this summer, but if it gets super hot, if it's not quite breezy enough at wind farms, or if power plants go down, there could be problems.
Pete Warnken, a resource adequacy manager for ERCOT, said operators do have ways to respond.
"And that would start with fully utilizing available generation capacity, and then if necessary implementing demand management procedures, deploying contracted resources that provide emergency capacity, and requesting support from our neighboring grids,” he said.
ERCOT said the risk of outages is likely lower than it was about a month ago. That's because some power plants have increased their output, since they can make money responding to the scarcity.