# ERCOT tells Texans to conserve electricity through Friday **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 14, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281 "2021-06-14T22:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CastletonSnob1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@CastletonSnob1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob1)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/1 "2021-06-14T22:42:22Z")
> **[Texans Asked To Conserve Energy As Main Power Grid Struggles To Keep Up](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texans-conserve-energy-power-grid-struggles_n_60c7c8b1e4b0e25921b6ccdd)** > > Grid operator ERCOT came under fire earlier this year for dangerous power outages that left millions without electricity and hundreds dead. Here we go again… ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/2 "2021-06-14T22:52:56Z")
_“We will be conducting a thorough analysis with generation owners to determine why so many units are out of service,” said Woody Rickerson, vice president of ERCOT’s grid planning and operations._ Did you hear that, guys? A _ **thorough** _ analysis. On thing they may want to look into is that apparently [ERCOT automatically grants request for power generators to go off line for maintenance](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/13/ercot-power-conservation-emergency/) without considering the needs of the grid. Whoopsie! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/3 "2021-06-14T23:09:17Z")
EPCOT? Why is Disney World singling out tourists from Tex… wait, what do they do, pull aside guys with oversize belt buckles? And oversize hats? Or do they have roving Gastons yell "Yee-haw!"and see who yells back? Oh, ERCOT… never mind. They’re even more Mickey Mouse. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/4 "2021-06-14T23:12:44Z")
Makes you wonder if they have a ‘contingency plan’ or readiness evaluations. Since, like, record or near record heat has been predicted for over a week now. Of course, after past failures of readiness, they would _make sure_ such measures were in place, no? _drowns in own sarcasm_ ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/5 "2021-06-14T23:36:18Z")
Where will Cruz flee to next? And who will be blamed? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/6 "2021-06-15T00:15:40Z")
(Since this is Politics and Elections) Sadly, it may well take more statewide power outages for Abbott, Patrick and the other Republican officeholders to feel any political heat. All Texas state offices are on the ballot next year, but right now they’re all more worried about primary challenges than any real threat from Democrats. And so we got a recently-concluded legislative session focused on abortion, critical race theory and making it harder to vote. Major outages this summer would kill hundreds if not thousands of Texans. That alone won’t hurt Republicans, since they’ll be mostly poor and brown. But maybe enough suburbanites would get pissed off over the margarita machine not working at Dale and Karen’s neighborhood fiesta to motivate them to vote D. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/7 "2021-06-15T00:16:38Z")
I read somewhere recently (but not in the linked article) a possibly apocryphal story that when a local mill [was electrified in the 1890s](https://reference.insulators.info/publications/view/?id=10261) people stood under the power lines with buckets trying to catch some of this amazing new substance dripping from them. So maybe Texans can do that. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/8 "2021-06-15T00:31:40Z")
We’re only halfway into June, breaking heat records left, right, and center, and the Texas grid is teetering on the brink again… This is gonna be a bad year, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/9 "2021-06-15T00:42:28Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Makes you wonder if they have a ‘contingency plan’ or readiness evaluations. Since, like, record or near record heat has been predicted for over a week now. Of course, after past failures of readiness, they would _make sure_ such measures were in place, no? No time for that, there’s culture wars to be fought. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/10 "2021-06-15T00:51:46Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Where will Cruz flee to next? And who will be blamed? It’s always Snowflake’s fault. Always. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/11 "2021-06-15T04:51:16Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > This is gonna be a bad year, folks. The clear, clean desert sky has been gray all day because Arizona is trying to burn down. The Saguaro Cactus are dying because of the continued drought and years of rising heat. I thought 2020 sucked, who’s holding 2021’s beer? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/12 "2021-06-15T04:54:02Z")
ERCOT spokesperson on the situation in Texas: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yj0DpW5ukU8/hqdefault.jpg "ERCOT spokesperson on the situation in Texas") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj0DpW5ukU8) Okay… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/13 "2021-06-15T10:27:34Z")
Is that video real or parody? Because honestly it’s getting hard to tell. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/14 "2021-06-15T10:46:01Z")
It’s parody. She does this sort of thing. She’s amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/15 "2021-06-15T11:00:22Z")
She’s pretty good, bc it starts out being believable but then she slowly tales it over the top. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/16 "2021-06-15T18:21:37Z")
> **[Texas grid operator urges electricity conservation as many power generators...](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/14/texas-power-grid-conserve-ercot/)** > > The Electric Reliability Council of Texas says a large number of power plants are offline, but it could not provide details as to what may be causing the “very concerning” number of outages. At the same time, the state is experiencing near-record... > The Electric Reliability Council of Texas says a large number of power plants are offline, but it could not provide details as to what may be causing the “very concerning” number of outages. At the same time, the state is experiencing near-record demand for electricity in June. Big surprise, amirite? > … > “[Electricity demand] is really driven by temperatures, and right now it is 99 degrees in Dallas, 97 degrees in Austin and 97 degrees in Houston,” said Joshua Rhodes, research associate at the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin. He said at those high temperatures, people tend to crank up their air conditioning, which strains the grid. At the same time, he said, power plants have already had a rough year given the damage during the February outages, which may be causing new complications. > > … > > During the recent legislative session, Texas lawmakers [passed energy grid legislation](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/03/texas-electricity-bills-winter-storm-legislature/) that aimed to prevent electricity blackouts in response to the February crisis. Senate Bills 2 and 3 included a few key changes to the state’s power grid that experts said will begin to address some issues, such as requiring power companies to upgrade plants to withstand more extreme weather and creating a statewide emergency alert system. However, it will likely take years before those changes are fully implemented. > > … > > The state likely won’t require companies to make weatherization upgrades until 2022 at the earliest. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/17 "2021-06-15T22:47:10Z")
And this isn’t the real heatwave. Not even close. It’s 95. Big deal. What’s that sucker gonna do when it’s 100+ for 40 days in a row? I’m washing clothes in the middle of the night. I use ceiling fans. I have blinds and thermal film and sun blocking drapes. They’ve had months to work on this. Instead, Ahbutt has been worried about the homeless in Ausitn cluttering up his sidewalks. AND getting private funding to build a wall between Texas and Mexico. Getcher head out, dude. ---
**Author:** ![CastletonSnob1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@CastletonSnob1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob1)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/18 "2021-06-16T17:51:38Z")
How likely is it that power goes out? ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/19 "2021-06-16T20:22:52Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > And this isn’t the real heatwave. Not even close. It’s 95. Big deal. What’s that sucker gonna do when it’s 100+ for 40 days in a row? The power will go out and people will die. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/20 "2021-06-21T02:25:41Z")
I’ve never seen the power go out and stay out during the heat. In Austin, we have rolling brownouts; the city will give you a free digital thermostat if you’ll let them cycle off your a.c. for fifteen minutes between 6 and 9. I did that for twelve years before i moved. Worked great. On the other hand, I’ve never lost all power and water for two and a half days in cold weather before this year either. That was bad. No a.c. will kill people a helluva lot faster. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281.md?page=2)