ERCOT: If You Can't Stand the Heat, Stay Out of Texas

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Researched by Industrial Information Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the flow of electricity to 23 million Texan customers, represents 85% of the state's electric load and 75% of the Texas land area. This summer, Texas experienced one of the hottest Augusts on record, with temperature in the triple digits and the demand for electricity at an all-time high.

ERCOT has been working around the clock to provide power for all its consumers, with the threat of rolling blackouts being enforced. Rolling blackouts are a last-resort measure used by an electric utility company to avoid a total blackout of the power system. They are usually in response to a situation where the demand for electricity exceeds the power supply capability of the network. Rolling blackouts may be localized to a specific part of the electricity network or may be more widespread and affect entire countries and continents. Rolling blackouts generally result from two causes: insufficient generation capacity, or inadequate transmission infrastructure to deliver sufficient power to the area where it is needed.

The high temperatures also have put additional strains on many power plants in Texas. Many plants will typically use weekends to perform maintenance on larger units when the demand is lower; however, since the temperature has been climbing to triple digits, it's been difficult to do because of the need for these units. During peak summer months, there may be an increase in plant outages due to the excess run time, without any break for maintenance or reduction in capacity.

ERCOT officials believe that although it is now September, the state is far from out of the woods and can't let its guard down. Historically, September can be extremely hot and dry.

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