ERCOT breaks another power record, tracker shows

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In the midst of a record-breaking weekend for heat, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas set another power record, according to their online tracker. It's the second time this week that ERCOT has set a new record in July and for all-time power usage.

ERCOT officials confirmed Friday that it hit a new all-time peak record and a July peak record, with 78,204 megawatts, breaking the previous unofficial all-time peak record of 77,460 megawatts set July 5. There is still sufficient power on reserve to meet demand, and no emergency requests for power conservation have been issued to consumers.

On Saturday, ERCOT unofficially set a new all-time weekend peak record of 77,359 megawatts, officials added.

Earlier this week, when the previous record was broken, ERCOT said in a statement Tuesday they will be able to meet demand.

"ERCOT will continue to deploy all available tools to manage the grid reliably and coordinate closely with the Public Utility Commission, generation resource owners and transmission utilities," ERCOT said.

At the beginning of the summer, when ERCOT officials gave an update to the grid's seasonal projections, ERCOT said it expects to hit a new summer record this year, predicting demand would hit 77,317 megawatts this summer.

The state is expected to continue setting new demand records as the state continues to grow, adding more people to the power demand.

Most of Central Texas is under a heat advisory until 8 p.m. Sunday. Blanco, Gillespie, and Mason, for now, are not under the Advisory. You can find KXAN's forecast for the weekend here.

While the state's grid is expected to have enough supply to meet demand, local outages are still possible. That can happen when a tree limb strikes a power line, or a car crashes into a pole.

If you're experiencing an outage, it's best to check with your local power provider to find out the cause, and ask for an estimated time power will be restored.