ERCOT cancels the energy conservation permit for Texans, launches another alert

HOUSTON – A few hours after the cancellation of its emergency conservation notice issued on Tuesday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas issued another warning on Wednesday about a potential lack of reserve energy.

Late Tuesday, the agency sent the following message to retail electricity suppliers and the Texas Utilities Commission:

„Insufficient capacity: ERCOT issues an OCN for a lack of spare capacity designed for the hours ending between 13:00 and 20:00. ERCOT requests all QSEs to update their COPs. ”

ERCOT is not yet asking people and businesses to save electricity, but the message indicates that such a request could be made to Texans again on Wednesday.

ERCOT officials said Tuesday’s conservation demand was due to high generator outages, which is typical for April, and higher-than-expected demand caused by a cold front blocked over Texas.

ERCOT Vice President for Network Planning and Operation Woody Rickerson issued the following statement on Tuesday’s notification:

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“Thanks to a combination of typical high-generation outages in April and higher-than-forecast demand on a cold front off Texas, ERCOT may be in an emergency this afternoon.

“Given the event in February, it is important to remember that we do not expect customer outages. Rather, this declaration of urgency allows us to access tools to bring supply and demand back online. ”