ERCOT Warns: Conserve Power Now or Risk "Controlled Temporary Interruptions" Later
"If a high electricity demand or loss of additional large generation units causes our reserve power to be below the target threshold, the operators will begin emergency procedures to maintain system reliability," Saathoff said.And I think we all remember what that actually means.
The emergency procedures are a progressive series of steps that allow ERCOT to bring on power from other grids if available (Energy Emergency Alert Level 1). If the situation does not improve, ERCOT escalates to a Power Warning (Energy Emergency Alert Level 2), allowing operators to drop large commercial/industrial load resources under contract to be interrupted during an emergency.
If the capacity shortage is not relieved by the contract demand response, ERCOT escalates to a Power Emergency (EEA Level 3) and will instruct utilities to reduce demand on the grid by conducting temporary outages at the local distribution level. These controlled temporary interruptions of electrical service -- or rotating outages -- typically last 15-45 minutes before being rotated to a different neighborhood.