AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Texas' electric grid operator is again asking residents and businesses to conserve electricity Wednesday afternoon, as extreme heat across the state continues to push the state's grid to new records for demand.
ERCOT's Conservation Appeal is in effect between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and evening. Officials say they expect grid conditions to be much like Monday, when conservation efforts were able to reduce demand by roughly 500 megawatts.
According to ERCOT's forecasts, the tightest conditions are expected between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The forecasted demand is expected to reach 78,451 megawatts, with just over 79,300 megawatts expected to be readily available to contribute to the grid.
"Conservation is a reliability tool ERCOT has deployed more than four dozen times since 2008 to successfully manage grid operations," the agency said in a press release. "This notification is issued when projected reserves may fall below 2300 MW for 30 minutes or more."
Wednesday's call for conservation, in addition to record high electric demand and continued low performance from wind resources, is also being prompted by forced outages for thermal generation units and developing cloud cover in West Texas that will affect ERCOT's solar resources.
ERCOT officials emphasize that no system-wide outages are expected.