What is ERCOt?

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is a nonprofit corporation authorized by the Texas Legislature to manage the reliable supply of electric power to 24 million Texans, including residents and businesses in Hamilton County Electric’s service territory.

Before every summer and winter, ERCOT forecasts potential electricity demand and capacity. ERCOT currently expects to have sufficient generation to meet peak customer demand during the summer. If this changes, however, and it appears that demand will exceed supply, ERCOT will initiate its Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) system. Alerts range from calls for conservation to a declaration of a statewide power emergency that could result in rotating outages—controlled, planned service interruptions designed to ensure grid stability.

CONSERVATION ALERT: ERCOT may ask consumers to conserve power by turning their thermostats up 2 to 3 degrees between 3 and 7 p.m.

EEA1: POWER WATCH: Energy Emergency Level 1: Conservation is needed. ERCOT operators have the authority to call on all available power supplies, including power from other grids, if available.

EEA2: POWER WARNING Energy Emergency Level 2: Conservation is critical. Operators drop large commercial/industrial load resources that have entered contracts agreeing to be interrupted during an emergency.

EEA3: POWER EMERGENCY: Energy Emergency Level 3: Sections of the ERCOT system are at high risk of rotating outages or rotating outages are in progress, typically lasting 15 to 45 minutes per neighborhood.

To report outages please call 254-386-3123.