ERCOT expects no power problems

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Electric Reliability Council of Texas believes there will be enough power to handle load problems this winter, given any unforeseen extreme conditions.

Tuesday, ERCOT released its "Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy" report, which explains there will be more than enough power in the Fall season.

ERCOT manages the flow of electric power to 23 million Texas customers, which use 85 percent of the state's electric load in 75 percent of the land area of the state.

ERCOT said it expects to have more than 74,500 megawatts available. One megawatt is enough to power about 500 homes during less extreme weather conditions and about 200 homes in more severe weather conditions.

“Although there is always the possibility that extreme weather conditions or an unusual number of generation outages could create unforeseen conditions, we expect to have enough power available to serve a range of scenarios,” said Warren Lasher, ERCOT’s director of System Planning.

Harsh winters could, however, cause some outages which would be rotated around the area if the weather is severe enough.

ERCOT released a preliminary winter forecast which shows possible weather conditions later this year and early 2013.

“At this time, it appears we also will have sufficient generation to serve expected load patterns this winter,” said Lasher. “However, if we see a combination of extreme winter weather conditions and more generation outages than usual, there could be a need to reduce electric demand at some point this winter to help protect grid reliability.”

ERCOT plans to release a final winter assessment on Nov. 1, which will assess any changes to the predicted winter forecast.

ERCOT called for power conservation as recently as June when temperatures began to rise. At that time, the nonprofit organization, which was formed in 1970, asked consumers and businesses to reduce their electricity use during peak energy use hours from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

In June, ERCOT also introduced a free smartphone app so customers can get real-time updates about the status of power grid usage. The app provides notifications to Apple and Android devices. When ERCOT is experiencing high demand and conservation is critical, users who enable the feature will receive alerts notifying them of the situation. The app can be found in the Apple and Google online app stores.

ERCOT is run by an eight-person staff and a board of directors.