DALLAS — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is issuing a voluntary conservation alert for Thursday, as the state power grid's demand is expected to increase with warm temperatures across Texas.
ERCOT officials did not provide more information on the conservation alert, which was issued shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday.
ERCOT officials on Wednesday posted that a "weather watch" was continuing through Friday due to forecasted high temperatures, which will climb into the triple digits for most of Texas on Thursday.
The warmer temps could lead to a higher electrical demand "and the potential for lower reserves," ERCOT officials said.
According to ERCOT's live supply-and-demand tracker and forecast Thursday morning, ERCOT's energy supply was going to closely match the state's supply in the afternoon hours Thursday.
It's not uncommon for ERCOT to issue conservation alerts in the winter and summer months, when Texas experiences extreme weather and temperatures. When ERCOT has issued conservation alerts in the summer in the past, they've asked Texans to set their thermostats to 78 degrees.
"The 78 degree goes back many years to the first energy crisis with Jimmy Carter," Bruce Bullock with the SMU Cox School of Business told WFAA in 2022.
Carter in 1979 had asked all federal buildings be set to 78 degrees in the summer and 55 degrees in the winter to offset the incredible strain on resources.
"All of us must learn to waste less energy," said President Carter in an address to the country in 1979. WFAA has learned the Environmental Protection Agency through EnergyStar isn't stuck on the number 78. They advise a 7 degree adjustment depending on whether you're home.
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