By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
Sunday night, as South Del Rio sat powerless thanks to a power outage, Electric Reliability Council of Texas issued a Conservation Appeal, asking Texans and Texas businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity, Monday, July 11 between 2-8 p.m.
Monday, The City of Del Rio’s Facebook page posted an Excessive Heat Warning for the expected high temperatures for Monday and Tuesday. Temperatures are expected to approach 110 degrees in Del Rio.
The ERCOT appeal/press release said there were two factors driving the request:
- Record high electric demand. The heat wave that has settled on Texas and much of the central United States is driving increased electric use. Other grid operators are operating under similar conservative operations programs as ERCOT due to the heatwave.
- Low wind. While solar power is generally reaching near full generation capacity, wind generation is currently generating significantly less than what it historically generated in this time period. Current projections show wind generation coming in less than 10 percent of its capacity.
Although ERCOT is saying that the primary possibility is that there will be rolling blackouts for 30 to 45 minutes at a time, City of Del Rio’s Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Dereus still urged citizens to be cautious. “People should take the potential seriously,” he said Monday morning on KTDR 96.3’s 830 Hour.
He added if rolling blackouts do hit the city, don’t assume your neighbor has called in to the city if your power goes off. He asked that city residents call any outages into the City of Del Rio’s Emergency Operations Center at 830-768-1286.
The Public Utilities Commission offered the following tips for keeping energy usage down.
- Save up to 20 percent by adjusting your AC, especially when you use a programmable thermostat
- Set your AC 5 degrees higher when you’re gone more than 4 hours.
- Between 3 and 7 p.m., aim for 1 to 2 degrees warmer than your final evening temperature. Try to keep it at 78 degrees or higher.
- Use fans to stay 4 to 6 degrees cooler.
- Set the AC to cool down after 7 p.m.
- Run your washer, dryer, or dishwasher in the morning before you leave for work or wait until after 7 p.m.
- Save up to 10 watts of energy for every device you unplug. Unplugging just 6 devices that you normally leave plugged in can save up to $40 a year.
- All electrical devices use some power when they’re turned off but still plugged in. They also generate heat.
- Turn off and unplug appliances and cable boxes when not in use.
- Unplug your phone charger and similar devices when charging is complete.
- Use a microwave, outdoor grill, or slow cooker. In the summer, your stove and oven heat up the house. This makes your AC work harder.
- Set your pool pump to run early in the morning or overnight.
Dereus said that if blackouts hit, the city will look at cooling stations at the Del Rio Civic Center as needed.
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Contact the author at joelalangton@gmail.com
