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The largest electric grid in the State of Texas issued an Emergency Conservation Notice this morning.

At 8:47am, Saturday morning, ERCOT issued an Emergency Notice saying the cold temperatures across the state are beginning to have an adverse impact on the electrical grid, due to high demand and reduced generation ability.

ERCOT says that load shedding, aka “rolling blackouts” is a possibility this weekend.

As of 8:59am Saturday morning, ERCOT had just 89 MW (megawatts) of electrical capacity in reserve; Current Demand was 62,708 MW and Total Capacity was 62,797 MW.

While Lubbock Power & Light is not yet on the ERCOT grid (more info below), electricity providers in the eastern South Plains, Amarillo, Snyder, Lamesa, Abilene, Wichita Falls, Big Spring, and the Permian Basin, are all on the ERCOT grid.

ERCOT - Load Zone Map (2020)
ERCOT - Load Zone Map, PUC of Texas
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Consumers can help conserve power by doing the opposite of what is done during the summer peak usage periods, and that is lower their thermostat by one or two degrees. Consumers can also delay use of high electricity usage appliances while electricity is in short supply.

Lubbock Power & Light is set to join the ERCOT grid in June of this year, after being approved to switch to ERCOT in 2018. Lubbock Power & Light has announced it will have three interconnects between the existing LP&L grid and ERCOT.

Wake-up with the KFYO Morning Show hosted by Dave King and Matt Martin, weekdays 6am-8:30am on News/Talk 95.1 & 790, KFYO. You can also listen online at KFYO.com and on the free KFYO App.

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