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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Overhead energy traces are seen throughout record-breaking temperatures in Houston, Texas, U.S., February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif//File Photograph/File Photograph
(Reuters) – The Texas energy grid will likely be examined once more early subsequent week as one other early spring heatwave blankets the state this weekend, prompting properties and companies to crank up their air conditioners.
The Electrical Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid for many of the state, has stated it expects to have sufficient electrical energy to fulfill demand.
AccuWeather forecast excessive temperatures in Houston, the most important metropolis in Texas, would attain 98 levels Fahrenheit (36.7 Celsius) on Monday earlier than easing to the low to mid 90s F for the remainder of the week. That compares with a standard excessive of 86 F within the metropolis presently of 12 months.
Excessive climate reminds Texans of the February freeze in 2021 that left thousands and thousands with out energy, water and warmth for days throughout a lethal storm as ERCOT scrambled to stop a grid collapse after an unusually great amount of era was shut.
ERCOT projected energy demand would peak at 71,152 megawatts (MW) on Monday, Could 16.
That may break the grid’s present file for the month of Could of 70,703 MW set earlier this week on Could 9, however will stay effectively beneath the state’s all-time peak of 74,820 MW in August 2019.
One megawatt can energy round 1,000 U.S. properties on a typical day, however solely about 200 properties on a scorching summer time day in Texas.
Subsequent-day costs on the ERCOT North hub, which incorporates Dallas, jumped to a six-month excessive of $195 per megawatt hour (MWh) for Friday.
Vitality merchants stated ERCOT North costs for Monday have traded round $220 per MWh.
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