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ERCOT: Energy use Monday sets June record
On Monday Texans set a record for energy use on a June day, and the hottest part of the week hasn’t come yet.
According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the operator of the state’s primary grid, from 4 to 5 p.m. electric use averaged out at 65,047 megawatts, about 2,000 more than the previous June record set in 2011 but still about 3,000 megawatts below the all-time record set in August 2011. One megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes during a hot summer day.
ERCOT said in a news release that it expects continued high demand throughout the week and is asking customers to reduce electric use, particularly between 3 and 7 p.m. Temperatures hit a sizzling 105 Monday in Austin, but no records were broken, forecasters said.
A high pressure region moving over the Northern Texas is spurring the heat wave that is expected to bring triple-digit temperatures until midweek, with a high of 105 forecasted for Tuesday and a high of 100 for Wednesday.
The temperature was recorded at 105 at Camp Mabry Monday and at 103 at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Mid- to low 90s are predicted by the weekend, when an area of weak low pressure sweeps into the area, spurring a 20 percent chance of rain Sunday, the weather service said.