ERCOT Will Now Text Grid Alerts and Has Published Six Official Notification Levels
ERCOT said Nov. 10 that its public grid-alert system, TXANS, can now send text messages. The operator listed six official notification levels, from a Weather Watch to an Energy Emergency Alert Level 3.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced it has upgraded the public system it uses to warn people about grid conditions, including the ability to receive those notices by text message for the first time. ERCOT's news releases page lists the announcement as Nov. 10. In the official release, the grid operator said the enhanced Texas Advisory and Notification System, or TXANS, is now "a single source for grid notifications."
"We have enhanced TXANS as a more efficient, streamlined way to communicate with the public," ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said in the release. "Communicating effectively with Texans remains a priority. These improvements ensure the public is receiving current and accurate information on grid conditions."
TXANS, the release says, is the tool ERCOT uses to tell the public about grid conditions, including forecasted weather, periods of higher electricity demand, and any emergency action ERCOT must take to maintain systemwide reliability. The upgrade is a communications change. It is not a statement that the grid will hold through the next storm, and the release does not claim otherwise. Texans still need to know what each official notice means.
A Weather Watch may be issued when significant weather, high demand, and a potential for lower reserves are forecast. During a Weather Watch, ERCOT says, grid conditions are normal. A Voluntary Conservation Notice is issued when higher demand is forecast with lower energy reserves. A Conservation Appeal is issued when higher demand is forecast with a potential to enter emergency operations. In both conservation notices, ERCOT asks the public to conserve electricity during a stated period, if it is safe to do so, and asks city, county, and other government offices to reduce use at their facilities.
The emergency alerts are defined by reserve and frequency thresholds. An Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 occurs when operating reserves drop below 2,500 megawatts and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes. ERCOT has not directed systemwide controlled outages at that level, the release says, but it asks the public to conserve if it is safe. Level 2 occurs when reserves drop below 2,000 megawatts and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes, or when frequency drops below 59.91 hertz for 15 minutes. ERCOT still has not directed systemwide controlled outages at that stage, and it says conservation is critical. Level 3 occurs when reserves drop below 1,500 megawatts, or when frequency drops below 59.8 hertz for any period of time. At that level, the release says, systemwide controlled outages "are underway and impact every customer class," after ERCOT has directed utilities in the ERCOT region to reduce demand quickly at the local level. The public is asked to conserve when they have power.
On the conservation notices and all three emergency levels, ERCOT tells people with critical medical needs to check with their local electric utility. That instruction is the operator's, and it is worth taking at face value.
In addition to email, TXANS subscribers can now opt in to text messages, the release says. The public may enroll at ercot.com/txans and choose a preferred method. Current subscribers can update contact information and choose email, text, or both by logging into the TXANS portal with a registered email address. The portal is powered by Regroup, a cloud-based notification platform, according to the release. Emails and texts will be sent in English and Spanish. ERCOT also points the public to its Weekly Grid Update, website dashboards, and social media accounts. The TXANS page itself lists a third path that the Nov. 10 release does not mention: the ERCOT mobile app for iOS and Android.
The same release describes ERCOT as the nonprofit corporation that manages the flow of electric power to more than 27 million Texas customers, about 90 percent of the state's electric load, on a grid that connects more than 55,000 miles of transmission lines and more than 1,460 generation units. It is a membership-based 501(c)(4) organization, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. Demand on that system is still rising, as we reported when Texas Set a September Power Record. ERCOT's Latest Report Shows How Fast the Grid Is Growing. Plants also face a separate winter-readiness filing deadline, covered in Texas Power Plants Have Until Dec. 1 to Swear They Are Ready for Winter. Here Is What the State Requires.
A text alert is useful only if people receive it, believe it, and know the difference between a watch issued while conditions are still normal and a Level 3 notice that means controlled outages have already begun. Official information is a public trust, especially on a grid that serves most of the state. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished" (Proverbs 22:3). The new channel does not replace a utility's local outage information, and it does not, by itself, keep the lights on.
