ERCOT issues Weather Watch in Texas ahead of Arctic blast – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

ERCOT is issuing a Weather Watch, alerting Texans that they anticipate higher electrical demand during an Arctic blast of cold air expected to arrive on Sunday that’ll bring extreme cold to the state.

The ERCOT Weather Watch is issued for Jan. 15-17. Two cold fronts are expected to arrive in North Texas over the next week, the first arriving on Friday and a second, an Arctic blast, on Sunday. The second front is expected to send temperatures well below freezing for a substantial period.

ERCOT’s Weather Watch is an advanced notification that is sent out under normal grid conditions about 3-5 days before a weather event to tell the public there may be a higher demand for electricity due to a forecasted event and that they should pay attention to changing conditions.

Last year, ERCOT announced the launch of the Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS) which includes two alerts, the ERCOT Weather Watch and a Voluntary Conservation Notice where Texans will be asked to voluntarily reduce usage during peak times — if it is safe to do so.

At this time, there has been no Voluntary Conservation Notice issued and there is no action needed to be taken.

ERCOT, or the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc., is the agency that manages the state’s power grid. The agency said Wednesday that January 2023 peak demand was 65,632 MW, with the current all-time peak demand record of 85,508 MW, set on Aug. 10, 2023. ERCOT estimates that 1 MW powers about 200 homes.