As intense heat continues across Texas, the federal government has issued an emergency order aimed at reducing the risk of power outages.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued the order in response to a shortage of available resources needed to meet increased electricity demand caused by extreme heat across 17 states.
The request was made by the Southwest Power Pool Inc. (SPP), which asked the U.S. Department of Energy to help relieve stress on the electric grid.
“Given the emergency caused by the expected load stress, the responsibility of SPP to ensure maximum reliability of its system, and the ability of SPP to identify and dispatch generation resources and make available backup generation resources necessary to meet load requirements, I have determined that, under the conditions specified below, additional dispatch of the Specified Resources is necessary and operation of backup generation resources may be necessary to best meet the emergency and serve the public interest for purposes of FPA section 202(c),” the order states. “This determination is based on the expected load stress, shortage of electric energy, shortage of facilities for the generation of electric energy, and other causes, and the potential loss of power to homes and local businesses in the areas that may be affected by curtailments or outages, presenting a risk to public health and safety.”
SPP serves portions of Texas, including the Panhandle, West Texas, and Northeast Texas, while the rest of the state operates under the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
In addition to Texas, the order applies to:
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Wyoming
The emergency order is scheduled to remain in effect through 11:59 p.m. Aug. 3.
