Date: 06-Aug-10
Country: USA
Author: Scott DiSavino and Eileen O'Grady
 

After setting an all-time electric use record on Wednesday, the Texas power grid operator forecast that milestone would fall Thursday afternoon as consumers continue to crank up their air conditioners to escape the sweltering heat.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said power use Wednesday afternoon reached 63,594 megawatts, surpassing the peak record or 63,400 MW set in July 2009.

ERCOT forecast demand Thursday would reach 64,553 MW.

The grid agency said the region has sufficient generation this year to meet summer peak demand above 64,000 MW and still maintain a 21 percent cushion to cover unexpected outages.

Triple-digit high temperatures were forecast across North Texas while high 90s Fahrenheit were seen across the remainder of the state, according to DTN Telvent.

The grid operator said the record was set during a 24-hour test of ERCOT's new control system for the nodal transmission market scheduled to begin December 1.

"ERCOT system operators and the region's transmission and generation owners operated smoothly through the nodal test and the new record demand without any major issues," said ERCOT Chief Executive Officer Trip Doggett on Wednesday.

The grid forecast demand would not set another record on Friday and fall to 61,300 MW. Power traders noted demand usually declines on Fridays as some companies and government offices shut early for the weekend, reducing commercial demand.

One megawatt can power about 500 average Texas homes under normal conditions, but only 200 homes during hot weather when air conditioners run for longer periods of time, the grid operator said.

(Editing by John Picinich)