The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) entered level 3 emergency conditions (the highest) and initiated rotating outages at 1:25 a.m. Monday. About 10,500 MW of customer load was shed at the highest point. This is enough power to serve approximately two million homes.
“Multiple generating units began tripping offline, in somewhat rapid progression, due to the severe cold weather,” said Senior Director of System Operations Dan Woodfin. “As a result of this decreasing supply, and the continued high demand, we began to see diminishing reserves.” There is now over 30,000 MW of generation forced off the system. "Every grid operator and every electric company is fighting to restore power right now," said ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness.
Rotating statewide outages are expected through Monday and Tuesday. “How long the outages stay in place depends on how quickly we can get additional generation back online in order to meet that demand,” said Woodfin. “That’s a function of how quickly those generators can come back on.”