The Texas power grid operator, ERCOT, has urged residents and businesses to conserve electricity as the first heat wave of the summer increases air conditioner usage, causing power reserves to potentially fall short. Power prices in the state’s day-ahead market reached over $2,500 per MWh, and ERCOT issued a warning about a projected reserve capacity shortage, although controlled outages are not currently necessary. Reuters reports: ERCOT operates the grid for more than 26 million customers representing about 90% of the state’s power load. The grid operator issued a “Watch” for what it called a “projected reserve capacity shortage with no market solution available for Tuesday” from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time, which could push ERCOT to take more actions to maintain reliability. Although controlled outages are one of the most extreme actions a grid operator could take to maintain reliability, ERCOT said “controlled outages are not needed at this time.”

ERCOT forecast power use would reach 81,348 megawatts (MW) on Tuesday before slipping to 80,991 MW on Wednesday. Tuesday’s high, which is a little below a forecast earlier in the day, would still top the grid’s current record peak of 80,148 MW on July 20, 2022. Day-ahead power prices for Tuesday settled around $2,500 per MWh at 5 p.m. local time in several zones, including Houston and Dallas, according to the ERCOT website. That compares with next-day prices at the ERCOT North Hub , which includes Dallas, that traded for $37 per MWh for the peak hours during the day on Monday, the U.S. Juneteenth holiday.

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Source: Slashdot – Texas Power Use To Break Records In Heat Wave, Prices Soar To ,500 Per Megawatt Hour