By KRWG News
Texas – The manager of the Texas electrical grid is renewing its appeal for users to reduce their afternoon electricity usage for the rest of the week.
A statement from the Energy Reliability Council of Texas said record-high temperatures throughout the state was expected to cause record demand for electricity between 3 and 7 p.m. Tuesday, especially between 4 and 5 p.m.
ERCOT expects demand to reach 67,084 megawatts, shattering Monday's all-time record of 66,867 megawatts.
ERCOT Vice President Kent Saathoff says it remains unclear whether there might be a need for more stringent emergency measures. The next emergency level would mean dropping large commercial and industrial electricity users under terms of their service contracts. The next emergency level after that would mean rolling interruptions of electric service.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.