Texans asked to conserve as electric grid nears brink

Residents and businesses in the State of Texas are being asked to conserve energy Monday afternoon during an expected heat wave that will push the states' electricity grid close to the point of no return.

As record heat continues and the Texas Power grid tops an all-time high record, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas calls for a conservation of energy during the hours of 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. The main grid operator of the state expects no system-wide outages for now but mentioned that compounding the high demand is the massive fleet of turbines are at less than 10% of their potential output due to low wind speeds. From the 2 to 3 o'clock hour today, the available generating capacity is seen around 0.6% above the anticipated demand according to ERCOT data with many cities around the state expected to set or get close to record highs.

The Texas power grid is still a hot top after the system crumbled a little more than a year ago from a deadly winter storm that left many in the state without power for hours or even days. Since then, many reforms and adjustments to aim to curb the possibility of this happening again with the power grid still being viewed as susceptible to more issues. Along with the current drought and other weather-related factors, don't expect for the range of heat to cool off at any time soon as the month of July continues to carry on.