watch that thermostat
ERCOT urges Texans to reduce power usage due to soaring temperatures
Texas' power grid operator issued a conservation alert on Monday, June 14 as much of the state flirts with record high temperatures.
Under the alert, ERCOT urged Texans to safely reduce electricity use during this time.
Officials base the tight grid conditions on a significant number of forced generation outages combined with potential record electric use for the month of June.
ERCOT has issued a Conservation Alert, and Texans are being asked to safely reduce their electric use.
— ERCOT (@ERCOT_ISO) June 14, 2021The power operator's website states the need for voluntary energy conservation through this Friday, June 18.
Officials offered these actions to help reduce electric use:
- Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher. Every degree of cooling increases your energy use by 6 to 8 percent.
- Turn off lights and pool pumps and avoid using large appliances like ovens, washing machines, and dryers.
- If you don't need something, we are asking you to turn it off and unplug it if possible.
The alert is similar to the one issued back in April as a means to avoid an energy emergency.
"Declaring an emergency would allow us to access additional resources," ERCOT explained at the time.
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