Texans used enough electricity Tuesday, June 26 to push wholesale power prices to the limit. When it's hot outside, air conditioners work hard to keep us comfortable. Tuesday's high of 106 in Dallas pushed electricity demand to a fresh peak for the month of June. As temperatures recede the rest of the week, electricity demand should ease.
"The key is, how many days like today are we going to have?" said Kent Saathoff, vice president of grid operations for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
"The more days like today you have, the more stress there is on units, the more likely it is you will have forced outages," he said.
Pitch In... Conserve!
Texans should continue good conservation habits. Saathoff said people heeded calls for conservation last summer and will probably do so again this year.
Last August, as temperatures hit 110, electricity demand rose so high that the grid was in danger of a blackout. ERCOT avoided outages by calling on volunteers to conserve. The grid operator has a roll of big customers that get paid to shut down in an emergency.
Saathoff said calls for the public to conserve also helped. He said the council had predicted demand would be about 1,500 megawatts higher than it was.
"We believe at least part of that 1,500 megawatts is due to public conservation," he said. "We expect the public would do as well or better this summer."
ERCOT called on everyone to turn up the thermostat a couple of degrees, turn off unnecessary lights and appliances, and wait to use electric stoves and dryers until after 7 p.m.
Conservation could become critical during the next couple of years as ERCOT grapples with rising demand without new power plants. The council has said it expects to initiate emergency procedures this summer, though the lights probably won't go out.
Read more at dallasnews.com __________________________________________________________
Beware, because history can repeat itself.
Last year, wholesale electricity prices in Texas reached $3,000/MWh during sever
al hours in the month of August due to prolonged high temps. As a result, many people on a variable rate experienced up to a 400% increase in their August 2011 electricity supply charges over the previous year.
Are you Ready?
Locking in a fixed electricity rate is the best strategy for protecting your bottom line from unexpected price increases in the market - especially given the impact that summer weather can have on your usage and electricity prices. Contact Texzon if you have any questions, especially if you are not on a fixed rate. We may be able to save you money!
