Energy demand shatters ERCOT forecast

State's energy demand surpassed winter records, ERCOT's expectations

So far, the grid is doing OK, but with predictions being so far off, some experts are worried it may not stay that way

AUSTIN, Texas - Energy demand shattered the Energy Reliability Council of Texas’s (ERCOT) forecast Friday.

ERCOT missed its demand forecast by more than 13 Gigawatts — more than peak demand of the Houston area.

"ERCOT was wildly off. Astoundingly, shockingly off." said Stoic Energy president Doug Lewin. "I don't know how it is possible that two years after Uri… they seem to have not improved at all."

Lewin said last year the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told electricity "balancing authorities," including ERCOT, that they needed to "add staff with specialized knowledge of how weather impacts load."

"I hope there are a lot of questions asked." he said.

Friday, there were relatively few power outages in Central Texas. Approximately one percent of Austin Energy customers were without power.

"We've seen some that are due to equipment failure. So we've seen some that are due to the high winds, blowing tree limbs into power lines and making contact with those." said Austin Energy spokesperson Matthew Mitchell. Mitchell declined to provide details on equipment failure.

Governor Greg Abbott tweeted that the grid performed "well."

"Last night ERCOT was lucky — but not good." said Lewin.

He said wind energy provided the grid with a substantial boost — as strong winds came in with the Arctic blast. That was expected to drop Friday evening.

Mitchell recommended Austin Energy customers take steps to conserve energy during the cold snap. Not just for the grid, but their wallets.

"Through the course of the next 24 hours, there's going to be a great demand for energy… And because of that, the price of energy is going to go up." he said.