The Texas power grid is leaking cold, outages or outages as soon as possible tonight: ERCOT

The Texas power grid manager is preparing for record power consumption while handling unusually large power generation issues. These problems could lead to disruptions, similar to the 2011 winter storm, which led to the same result, officials said.

The CEO of Texas Electric Reliability Council in Texas, better known as ERCOT, announced Sunday that gas supplies to power plants have been limited and some wind turbines have frozen. ERCOT has an alert system for the state of the network, which is now in the state of “conservation alert” as consumption increases throughout the country.

This is a step up from earlier this week, when Nick Natario of ABC13 spoke with ERCOT when conditions were normal.

“We are facing a record electricity demand, due to the extreme temperatures that have swept Texas,” said ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness. “At the same time, we are dealing with larger-than-normal generation outages. We are asking Texans to take some simple and safe steps to reduce energy consumption during this time.”

ERCOT in 2011 had to cut off electricity to at least one million homes in Texas during a record cold that year.

The perspective of the system predicted very strict conditions, including the possibility that the demand will exceed the power available on Sunday, according to the ERCOT website. A spokesman confirmed the prospects, saying emergency conditions could be activated immediately tonight.

The similarities with the two situations are hard to miss: both systems brought significantly lower temperatures, left the roads impassable with ice and snow and led to some electrical installations that disconnect due to the cold, leaving the state without enough energy. In 2011, the state imported energy from Mexico, according to ABC13 reports at the time.

Magness said lowering the heaters to 68 degrees, turning off the shadows to keep warm and turning off appliances and non-essential lights can help conserve energy during the cold.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned Saturday that all of Texas is facing an unprecedented winter storm and said he is calling for a federal declaration of disaster before the storm. Abbott has already issued a declaration of state disaster.

SATURDAY: Abbott calls for energy conservation, says demand may exceed supply

ABC13 answers the most important questions about winter weather