AUSTIN, TX (Covering Katy News) - ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, predicts that the Texas energy grid will have enough power to handle demand during the arctic blast.
Information on electricity supply and demand during the critical period is available on the ERCOT website.
Texans are using more electricity than ERCOT forecasted. For example, electricity usage on Thursday was expected to be about 70,000 megawatts, but Thursday night, Texans already used about 74,000 megawatts.
ERCOT predicts that energy use would peak today (Friday) at about 8 a.m. and that the conditions during the recent cold weather will not see a grid failure as during winter storm Uri in February 2021.
One independent expert watching developments told Dallas TV station NBC 5 that he agrees with ERCOT's energy demand and supply prediction.
"I agree with them based on these conditions," said Doug Lewin, president of Stoic Energy Consulting. "The biggest difference from this and Uri is the weather. It's going to be warmer. It's going to be drier. It's going to be sunnier. It's going to be windier. All of those accrue to a higher likelihood of the grid staying up."
The Railroad Commission of Texas oversees the oil and natural gas industry and pipelines. Its crews have been inspecting critical gas infrastructure across the state to ensure they are winter ready and continue delivering to customers who need natural gas to heat their homes.