AUSTIN (KXAN) — Downtown Austin Alliance has contacted the owners or operators of more than 50 of the largest downtown buildings and construction sites Tuesday, asking them to conserve power.
Texans are being asked to conserve power if they have it in order to stabilize the state power grid managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT. Some power companies like Austin Energy have to implemented prolonged outages for some residents to meet the lowered energy usage goals requested by ERCOT.
More than 800 property owners are on the list to be contacted to scale back their nonessential electricity use to help out.
The alliance explained some downtown buildings must maintain power to keep critical systems infrastructure up and running, like hospitals, warming sites and more.
For buildings not deemed critical, they are making phone calls and sending emails to explain how to reduce electrical usage. Here are some tips:
- Turn down thermostats to 68 degrees or lower
- Turn off all electronics and unplug any machines to eliminate the use of phantom currents
- Minimize or completely turn off lighting, other than interior and exterior lights needed for safety measures
It is also important to note people who lost power might be staying in downtown hotels, so those will need to stay in use.
