North Texans know all too well how the Texas Grid caved in just a couple of years ago. With the 21st century’s need to power up air-conditioning, smart homes and cellphones, the health of the Grid has brought entire families and neighborhoods to realize their homes, businesses and even cars are dependent upon electricity.
To help prepare folks for what may be on the horizon, those wonderful folks at ERCOT have created the Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS) to “deliver clear and reliable information about grid conditions.”
Delivered via email, Facebook and Twitter plus the TXANS website, the new creation will not “replace Energy Emergency Alerts, which will continue to be sent to the Energy Emergency Alerts (EEA) email distribution list.”
According to organizers, it will simply “give people a heads up that there may be periods of high demand and that they should stay abreast of changing conditions or that conservation may be necessary to prevent an energy emergency.”
Plans call for TXANS to provide the ERCOT Weather Watch (“an advanced notification that’ll be sent out under normal grid conditions about 3-5 days before a weather event to tell the public there may be a higher demand for electricity due to a forecasted event and that they should pay attention to changing conditions”) and the Voluntary Conservation Notice (“a call to Texans to voluntarily reduce usage during peak times if it is safe to do so”).
According to ERCOT President/CEO Pablo Vegas, “It is important to note that just because ERCOT issues a Weather Watch or a Voluntary Conservation Notice it does not mean that we are in or expect to be in emergency conditions. TXANS will deliver clear and reliable notifications ahead of significant weather conditions where high demand on the grid is possible. Keeping Texans informed earlier adds a new level of awareness on grid conditions and any public action that may be needed.”
So, what does this mean? Simply if you’re a weather worrier, you check weather.com to see whether a bumbershoot or down jacket is needed. If you’re wondering whether the summer heat or winter cold might be jeopardizing the Grid, you can now check ERCOT grid status.
TXANS is free, so why not sign up and be ahead of the heatwave tsunami on the horizon?
* Graphic courtesy of ERCOT