ERCOT issues Weather Watch as Texas expects to see freezing temperatures

Texas power grid operator ERCOT has issued a Weather Watch for most of this week, due to the expected higher than usual demand.

What We Know: ERCOT issued a Weather Watch from January 6-10.

A large part of Texas is expected to see temperatures dip below freezing during that timeframe.

ERCOT says that grid conditions are expected to be normal this time. At this point, they’re not asking people to conserve, and there’s no talk of outages.

The ERCOT website shows the grid is expected to have plenty of capacity to handle the extra demand.

You can monitor ERCOT's conditions here.

What is a Weather Watch?

ERCOT issues a Weather Watch to give advance notice of any forecasted significant weather that will result in higher electrical demand and the potential for lower reserves. 

If conditions would require it, a Weather Watch would be followed by a Voluntary Conservation Notice and Conservation Appeal.

If electricity supply is still needed, there are three levels of Energy Emergencies.

Controlled outages do not occur until Level 3.

ERCOT improvements since 2021 Winter Storm

No Texan who lived through the 2021 Winter Storm is likely to forget it any time soon.

In Feb. 2021, the grid failed leaving millions in the state without power for days. Federal energy regulators blamed the failure on frozen equipment at power plants and natural gas facilities.

Since then ERCOT has implemented policies that they say are aimed at preventing similar failures.

Some of those tools include weatherization of power equipment, bringing more generation online earlier if needed and purchasing more reserve power, according to the agency’s statement.

EROCT CEO Pablo Vegas says the state has seen steady increase in demand during winter months over the past 10 years.

Vegas said more than 10,000 megawatts of production has been added to the power grid since January.

Overall, Vegas said the grid is better prepared to handle heavier winter energy demands.