ERCOT issues Conservation Appeal for 6th time in 7 days

Power plant outages strain grid conditions

Although it was far from the hottest day, the Texas power grid experienced some of its tightest conditions of the summer.

ERCOT is asking Texas to conserve energy for the 6th time in the last 7 days.

The state's power grid operator issued a conservation appeal from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

ERCOT says the state is dealing with a "high level of unexpected thermal outages" in addition to a forecast that includes low wind generation.

A similar call was issued on Tuesday when ERCOT issued the conservation appeal from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The grid operator is asking the state's businesses and residents to conserve electricity usage.

Texans asked to conserve power despite lower demand

Texas power grid operators came close to activating emergency conditions Wednesday night. FOX 4's Hanna Battah talks about why the near breakdown happened despite it being one of the cooler days this month.

The tightest grid conditions are expected around 8 p.m. when electricity demand is expected to surpass supply, according to ERCOT's website.

Demand is forecast to be around 72,000 MW at 8 p.m.

The unofficial peak demand this summer was 85,435 MW on August 10.