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ERCOT issues ‘weather watch’ due to forecasted higher temperatures, anticipated higher electrical demand

ERCOT’s weather watch does not indicate the state will see widespread outages or that ERCOT will call for energy conservation.

FILE - This Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, file photo shows power lines in Houston. In a letter, Tuesday, July 6, 2021, one month after declaring the state's electric power grid fixed, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is demanding aggressive action from state utility regulators to shore up that grid. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) (David J. Phillip, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

HOUSTON – The operator of Texas’ power grid issued a “weather watch” ahead of what the agency projects could be record demand next week.

The watch does not indicate the state will see widespread outages or that ERCOT will call for energy conservation. The watch is merely an indication of forecasted high demand on Texas’ power infrastructure.

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The weather watch begins Sunday and will continue through July 18.

MORE: Triple digit heat back in Houston

The Texas power grid set an unofficial all-time demand record Thursday and may surpass it next week.

Texas set all-time records for electricity usage 11 times last year.

ERCOT issued its first weather watch in June. The advisories are part of a new communications tool that the agency launched in an “ongoing effort to be more open and transparent.”

MORE: Track the Texas power grid: Watch ERCOT’s current grid conditions in real-time


About the Author
Briana Zamora-Nipper headshot

Briana Zamora-Nipper joined the KPRC 2 digital team in 2019. When she’s not hard at work in the KPRC 2 newsroom, you can find Bri drinking away her hard earned wages at JuiceLand, running around Hermann Park, listening to crime podcasts or ransacking the magazine stand at Barnes & Noble.

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