Texas’ electric grid sets new winter peak demand record
AUSTIN, TX, Jan. 4, 2018 – ERCOT, the electric grid operator for most of Texas, set a new winter demand record on Wednesday, Jan. 3, between 7 and 8 a.m. Electricity demand reached 62,855 megawatts*, surpassing the previous winter record by more than 3,200 megawatts.
“The ERCOT system performed well during this winter weather event, and there were sufficient generation and transmission resources available to keep up with demand,” said ERCOT Senior Director of System Operations Dan Woodfin.
The previous winter peak record was 59,650 MW, set Jan. 6, 2017 between 6 and 7 p.m. ERCOT broke this previous record during several hours Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
Most of Texas was below freezing Wednesday morning. The National Weather Service records for the Dallas Fort Worth area put the low temp at 19 degrees.
