Early Monday morning, ERCOT declared an “energy emergency alert one”, also called EEA 1, as the first of three alert phases. At this stage, the state seeks to obtain electricity from other networks. The second stage turns off major industrial users who have agreed to cut power in an emergency. The third phase is rotary interruptions.
Sunday night’s electricity usage broke an earlier record, set in 2018, when extreme cold weather and frozen precipitation covered the entire state, paralyzed transport and brought most of the state below zero.
The last time the state had to implement continuous interruptions was in 2011, when another major storm brought cold, ice and snow to the south of the Rio Grande Valley.
The 2021 storm is expected to bring even colder temperatures to the Lone Star State for a longer period.
The CEO of the Texas Electric Reliability Council, better known as ERCOT, announced on Sunday that natural gas supplies to power plants were limited and half of the system’s wind turbines froze, keeping at least 12,000 megawatts offline. ERCOT has a network condition alert system that is now in a ‘conservation alert’ status as consumption increases across the state.
Interruptions usually last from 15 minutes to an hour. Continuous blackouts can repeat until Tuesday morning, according to ERCOT officials.
Blackouts are expected across the state. Experts say they are necessary to avoid shutting down places like hospitals, police stations, firefighters, water and sewage treatment plants.
ERCOT in 2011 had to cut power to at least one million homes in Texas during a record cold spell that year.
The similarities with the two situations are difficult to ignore: both systems brought significantly colder temperatures, left roads impassable with ice and snow and caused some power installations to be shut down due to the cold, leaving the state without enough energy. In 2011, the state imported energy from Mexico, according to an ABC13 report at the time.
ERCOT officials said lowering the heaters to 68 degrees, closing the curtains to help keep the heat off, and turning off non-essential appliances and lights can help conserve energy during the cold.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned on Saturday that the whole of Texas is facing an unprecedented winter storm and issued a statewide disaster declaration. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state of Texas and ordered federal assistance to complement state and local response efforts.
FROM SATURDAY: Governor Abbott calls for energy conservation, says demand may exceed supply
ABC13 answers your top questions about winter weather
Copyright © 2021 KTRK-TV. All rights reserved.