Facing High Demand, Texas Asks 26 Million to Use Less Electricity This Weekend

Friday a heat wave hit Texas — prompting the non-profit that manages power for Texas's 26 million customers to...ask them to use less of it.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas made an appeal on Friday, saying that soaring temperatures increased demand and caused six power generation facilities to go offline.

The statement asks Texans to conserve power when they can by setting their thermostats to 78-degrees or above and avoiding the usage of large appliances during peak hours. There is a chance that parts of Texas will break daily records over the next seven days. ERCOT came under scrutiny last year after record cold temperatures in February caused the state's highest electricity demand and more than 200 people died during the power crisis. ERCOT's president and CEO, Bill Magness, was fired in March of 2021, after a series of winter storms left many residents in the dark for days. The power grid in Texas is being tested by the heat. Much of central and western Texas is expected to reach 100 to 105 degrees on Sunday, which is 10 to 15 degrees above average.