DATELINE: 26 June 2009
Texas electricity usage neared new record
Dallas Business Journal
Thursday was the hottest day of the year thus far, but Texas power users didn’t set a new record for electric usage.
Between 3 and 4 p.m. Thursday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas reports that electricity demand hit 62,298 megawatts — 41 megawatts shy of record usage set on Aug. 17, 2006.
Despite triple-digit highs forecasted for Friday, ERCOT is not forecasting record-topping demand. On Thursday, ERCOT, which oversees the power grid serving most of Texas, issued a “power watch” alert, saying that high usage combined with some unplanned generation outgages meant the state had only a minimal supply of reserve generation capacity at the peak of power usage.
The agency urged businesses and homeowners to conserve power between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m
|
