ERCOT = Electric Reliability Council of Texas
I received this e-mail today at work:
NEWS RELEASE: Electric Reliability Council of TexasPower Watch -
Conservation Needed
ERCOT initiating level 1 emergency; Consumers asked
to conserve 3-7 p.m. today
Austin, Aug.2, 2011 -- The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc.
(ERCOT), system operator for the state’s bulk transmission grid,
initiated Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 at 2:40 p.m. when responsive
reserves dropped below 2,300 megawatts (MW). Capacity is expected to be
tight over the peak today, and ERCOT operators are closely monitoring
the situation.
“We are requesting that consumers and businesses reduce their
electricity use during peak electricity hours from 3 to 7 p.m. today,
particularly between 4 and 5 p.m. when we expect to hit another peak
demand record,” said Kent Saathoff, vice president of system planning
and operations. “We do not know at this time if additional emergency
steps will be needed.”
Forecast for peak demand today is 67,084 MW, exceeding yesterday’s
new all-time record of 66,867 MW. Prior to this year, the record was
65,776 MW (Aug. 23, 2010).
For more information, see Aug. 1 news releases:
http://www.ercot.com/news/press_releases/show/403
http://www.ercot.com/news/press_releases/show/407
Emergency Procedures Background
The Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) procedures are a progressive series of
steps that allow ERCOT to bring on power from other grids if available,
beginning with a Power Watch (Energy Emergency Alert Level 1).
If the situation does not improve, ERCOT escalates to a Power Warning
(Energy Emergency Alert Level 2), allowing operators to drop large
commercial/industrial load resources under contract to be interrupted
during an emergency.
If the capacity shortage is not relieved by the contract demand
response, ERCOT escalates to a Power Emergency (Energy Emergency Alert
Level 3) and will instruct utilities to reduce demand on the grid by
conducting temporary outages at the local distribution level. These
controlled temporary interruptions of electrical service – or rotating
outages – typically last 15-45 minutes before being rotated to a
different neighborhood.
Consumers should contact the utility company/ transmission provider
listed on their electric bill for information about power outages at
their homes or business, or about rotating outage procedures for their
area.