TEXAS — In the shade, ice is staying put. A reminder of what was a winter weather weekend across Texas.
Before the storm, the big question for state leadership was will our power grid hold up?
“The ERCOT grid has never been stronger,” said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. “Never been more prepared and is fully capable of handling this winter storm.”
The state’s grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), launched a weather watch for the grid Saturday, which stayed in effect until Tuesday.
“The grid will perform well in this event,” said Thomas Gleeson, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas.
Monday morning, things got tight on the grid. Around 8 a.m., ERCOT’s dashboard showed energy demand got close to the state’s capacity for power supply.
However, before and after, reserve power kept the grid steady.
Although it’s still cold across much of the state, the sun has returned, bringing a bump in solar energy generation. Nearly 40% of the power on the grid is being fueled by solar.
To prepare, ERCOT says it asked the U.S. Department of Energy for accommodations, such as emergency orders to authorize the state’s biggest power users, like data centers, to move to back-up generation if needed.
Explaining in a statement, “the DOE orders are intended to offset demand and maintain grid reliability and public safety.”
Back in San Antonio, the weekend kept CPS Energy, the city’s power provider, busy during this cold snap. Thousands of customers were impacted by ice-covered tree limbs falling on power lines.