Call for Texans to conserve electricity helped avoid rolling blackouts, ERCOT says

DALLAS - Despite never really being in danger of rolling blackouts, even the possibility can put North Texans on edge.

Many still have the deadly 2021 power grid failure in the back of their minds.

The conservation alert ended Monday night, and there was no impact to power in local neighborhoods and businesses. 

Even the iconic Reunion Tower ball went dark Monday in a continued effort to conserve. 

ERCOT says the call to conserve energy worked, keeping the state’s power grid from getting overloaded.

ERCOT wanted people to start conserving power around 2 p.m. Monday afternoon. In the five minutes leading up to that hour, about 500 megawatts of load dropped off the grid — enough to keep the agency from issuing tougher measures like rolling blackouts.

LINK:  ERCOT asks Texans to conserve electricity on Monday

Calls to conserve take on a new meaning for Texans after the disaster power grid failure during the 2021 winter storm.

This was the second time ERCOT’s made the request since May.

Some people like Damon Betik aren’t too concerned yet.

"I am just going to live my life the way it is. Keep it 76 at the house," he said. "I’m out in Ennis. I live out in the country. It’s not that bad because it doesn’t have all the concrete like here in the city."

But Mark Sherman remembers how bad things got in 2021 when nearly five million people statewide lost power.

"We are concerned of course concerning what happened last year. But we have a lot of friends. We know that its spotty, and we can call on friends if we have to stay at their house," he said. 

Although in some ways, Sherman says the heat worked out for him and his family Monday.

"Our dryer quit working so we washed the clothes and hung the clothes in the backyard, and it dried faster," he said.

Record-breaking energy demand is again forecasted for Tuesday. So far, ERCOT has not made a call for people to conserve power again.