# 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:** 2
**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 21, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/21 "2021-06-21T02:38:57Z")
Tomorrow the days start getting shorter…WAAHHH! 😩 Our winters are so mild that I usually don’t dread them. But I feel sure we’ll face blackouts again this winter. ---
**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 21, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/22 "2021-06-21T02:55:01Z")
[This is probably pay-walled, but try anyhow.](https://arizonarepublic-az.newsmemory.com/?token=63f7e314f145855b434217b18e57512d&cnum=cf5f07f9-9a77-4704-a737-35dc23ca1a49&fod=1111111-0&selDate=20210620&licenseType=paid_subscriber&) " The nearly simultaneous shutdown of four gigantic power plants in Texas – capable of powering almost 1million homes – drove the region to the brink of yet another energy crisis as temperatures soared recently, according to data analyzed by Bloomberg. All told, generators across the second- largest U.S. state were either down for repairs or running at reduced capacity when triple-digit heat was baking Texas…" Very concerning. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/23 "2021-06-21T03:40:19Z")
If anyone dies as a result of _this_ latest news, ERCOT deserves to _burn:_ Texas’s power company [automatically raised](https://news.yahoo.com/texas-power-companies-automatically-raised-192827153.html) the temperature of people’s smart thermostats to 78 degrees during peak power usage to conserve power. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/24 "2021-06-21T03:56:20Z")
I don’t think 78F is going to kill anyone. This is the point of those free smart meter programs. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/25 "2021-06-21T04:49:48Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Where will Cruz flee to next? And who will be blamed? Alaska, and the same boogeymen these people always blame. Minorities and democrats. I once read that during the winter outage, had the utility companies handled it a little worse, then it could’ve taken Texas at least a year to recover electricity due to how badly it would’ve damaged their grid. Texas is basically a few bad decisions away from the stone age. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/26 "2021-06-21T12:14:18Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Texas is basically a few bad decisions away from the stone age That’s probably true for most American infrastructure. And also the banking system. ---
**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 21, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/27 "2021-06-21T12:15:33Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > > > Texas is basically a few bad decisions away from the stone age > > That’s probably true for most American infrastructure. And also the banking system. - The difference is that with Texas, _that’s the goal._ ---
**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 21, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/28 "2021-06-21T13:47:30Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Texas’s power company [automatically raised](https://news.yahoo.com/texas-power-companies-automatically-raised-192827153.html) the temperature of people’s smart thermostats to 78 degrees during peak power usage to conserve power. I have an ignorant thermostat, but I leave it on 78 anyway. That’s plenty comfortable for me. I lower it to 76 at night. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/29 "2021-06-21T14:08:28Z")
I used to work in Austin with a guy from Massachusetts. He was convinced that the thermostat had to be set to 72, ‘it’s room temperature’ he’d say. 72 is also 35+ degrees cooler than a typical summer day. And Ted Cruz has some past tweets about electricity in Californian that have aged [like milk in the sun](https://twitter.com/Williamthe13th/status/1404578162118365189). ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/30 "2021-06-21T15:15:44Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > The difference is that with Texas, _that’s the goal._ Perhaps it’s part of the master Republican plan to prevent all those dirty immigrants from coming to the country; just make the USA an incredibly shitty place to live. That will remove the incentive. Winning! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/31 "2021-06-21T15:28:20Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > > > Texas is basically a few bad decisions away from the stone age > > That’s probably true for most American infrastructure. And also the banking system. Yes but due to hubris, Texas has its own power grid. It didn’t winterize its equipment and it doesn’t share infrastructure with other states. > **[Texas was minutes away from monthslong power outages, officials say](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-power-outages-ercot/)** > > Officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said that grid operators implemented blackouts to avoid a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months. FWIW, I think certain parts of Texas are independent of the Texas Grid (some western and eastern counties). They survived the winter outages fine, not sure if those areas survived the summer outages without losing power too. Point is, Texas is self sabotaging. They create an independent grid, then they don’t update their equipment properly. And yet again, I’m sure they’ll blame everyone but themselves like they did when power went out in winter. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/32 "2021-06-21T15:44:29Z")
While people that sign up for this type of program should be properly informed, I’m not going to get too indignant about this. These types of programs (programs that allow the utility to remotely reduce your power consumption during peak times) are very common. I don’t think anyone’s gonna die because the ERCOT turned up their thermostat a few degrees, and if you have a chronic illness that requires you to live in a refrigerated room, don’t sign up for the program. it’s not even like they actually cut off the AC ( many of these utility peak load reduction programs will cut it off completely for a short period of time). I’m more annoyed with whiners that sign up for this stuff, happily take whatever the upside is (a lower rate, a free thermostat), then turn on the aggrieved consumer act when the downside kicks in. It’s certainly not as outrageous as the fate of the people that signed up for the variable rate program, not realizing that a peak surge could raise their power bill to over $1000 a day. Please note, I still think Texas and ERCOT are being ridiculously stupid, bordering on evil, putting their citizen’s lives at risk but that doesn’t mean that every single little thing they do is evil and/or stupid. If ERCOT managing peak surges via remotely control thermostats keeps an area from being thrown into a protracted and dangerous blackout, it might even save lives. Certainly, _asking_ Texas residents to turn up their thermostats a little so their neighbors won’t die wouldn’t work anymore……the new culture of “me first” would probably have them lowering their thermostats just so they can get all the energy they’re “entitled” to have. Gotta take a stand against socialism, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/33 "2021-06-21T15:52:27Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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. Well, it’s only going to continue to get worse as the planet continues to heat up. If we aren’t going to reverse or at least halt the process, we have to adjust to the changes. There really isn’t any choice in the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/34 "2021-06-21T18:54:10Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’m sure they’ll blame everyone but themselves like they did when power went out in winter. Probably Biden’s fault. Or are they still stuck blaming Obama for everything? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/35 "2021-06-21T18:55:34Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > There really isn’t any choice in the matter. Sure there is! - Deny it’s happening - Prepare statements blaming others - Repeat steps 2 and 2 above. ---
**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 25, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/36 "2021-06-25T00:16:22Z")
> **[Some Texas power plants unexpectedly went offline last week. The grid...](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/24/texas-ercot-power-plants-offline/)** > > Texans were asked to cut back on their electricity use for a week because of “tight” power grid conditions, according to ERCOT officials. They still haven’t said what caused the plant outages. > … > So far, ERCOT has not revealed which power plants went down last week — or even how many were down. > > “Based on preliminary information received from generation owners, the vast majority of forced outages that occurred last week are due to equipment issues,” ERCOT spokesperson Leslie Sopko said. “Our Operations group is analyzing the information and will be providing a more comprehensive overview of the causes.” > > Daniel Cohan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, said ERCOT was not being “sufficiently transparent in explaining what was going on and left Texans **in the dark** about causes for these outages.” > … My bold. As it were. ---
**Author:** ![CastletonSnob1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@CastletonSnob1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob1)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/37 "2021-07-22T21:51:44Z")
It’s supposed to get hot next week, and ERCOT says they expect a record usage of electricity. How likely is it that we have power outages? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/38 "2021-07-22T22:08:02Z")
Fair chance. Late July through August, there are often rolling blackouts. Doesn’t always happen, though. The various power companies kind of expect things to be really hot this time of year. But I also expect Texans to be less forgiving than usual this year. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/39 "2021-07-22T22:19:30Z")
You might think that, I couldn’t possibly comment. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281/40 "2021-07-22T23:46:57Z")
Nobody could possibly predict that Texas would have hot weather in July and August. ERCOT is baffled by this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ercot-tells-texans-to-conserve-electricity-through-friday/944281.md?page=3)