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ERCOT warns of generation shortages
- Asks consumers to conserve electricity
- Texas has 11,600MW of generation capacity offline due to maintenance
The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has asked consumers to reduce electricity consumption from Monday 14th June through Friday 18th. The notice is due to a potential drop in available generation capacity owing to an increase in demand and unexpected plant outages. ”A significant number of forced generation outages and potential record electric use for the month of June”, the notice stated.
The notice comes as Texas is currently experiencing a heatwave with record high temperatures. ERCOT data shows that at least 11,000MW of generation capacity is currently offline for scheduled maintenance, thereby exacerbating the current capacity shortages.
The Senior Director of Systems Planning, ERCOT Warren Lasher, has failed to give reasons for the unprecedented plant outages. ”I don’t have any potential reasons [for the plant outages] that I can share at this time”, Lasher said. ”It’s the responsibility of the generators to make sure their plants are available when demand is high”, Lasher added.
With approximately 12,000MW unavailable due to plant outages, this represents almost three times the expected plant outage for summer. In April, ERCOT had asked consumers to conserve energy due to plant maintenance.