“The Texas grid is going to be tested again," said meteorologist Brad Panovich at WCNC in Charlotte, North Carolina. Temperatures will be 25 degrees or lower in the Dallas and San Antonio metro areas between Thursday, Dec. 22, through Monday, Dec. 26. ERCOT worked with state regulators to fortify the grid following the winter storm in February 2021 but with temperatures that low, demand is sure to go up.
“The effect it can have on generators — and the way demand can rise sharply in cold weather — can lead to load risk,” said Mark Olson, a reliability manager at the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC). The demand for electricity must be reduced to avoid uncontrolled blackouts. If necessary, ERCOT will instruct electric utilities to implement controlled customer outages or load shedding. Electric utilities, including AEP Texas, are obligated to immediately implement load shed procedures when ERCOT instructs.
Texans won’t be left out in the cold. Tesla announced the launch of Tesla Electric, a utility service for residential customers that already have a Tesla Powerwall installed in their homes. The Powerwall will autonomously select when to charge and when to sell energy back to the grid, according to the Tesla Electric website. Tesla Electric will offset consumer usage with energy from 100 percent renewable sources. Tesla said its Tesla Electric members “have the potential to earn over 50 percent more in credits on their electricity bills compared to similar plans.
While some continue to raise concerns about ERCOT, Texas grid operators have said the grid is ready to meet the demand next week during the upcoming arctic blast. Time will tell.