Austin Energy’s power generation and transmission facilities have completed their weatherization readiness activities in preparation for the summer season, the Texas public power utility said on June 6.
Austin Energy certified its summer weather preparedness to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas in compliance with state regulations. The utility completes and maintains annual summer and winter season emergency preparation measures for its generation units and transmission substations.
Austin Energy’s summer preparations are complete as the state’s grid operator readies for what will likely be another record-breaking season regarding energy demand. Last summer, Texas reached 10 new all-time peak demand records.
Some of the preparations Austin Energy staff have completed include:
- Setting up cooling systems for power plant equipment to prevent overheating.
- Hiring a utility supply chain manager to coordinate timely deliveries of fuel supplies.
- Conducting thorough maintenance and calibration checks on all power generation equipment to ensure reliability during peak demand periods.
- Promoting the utility’s Power Partner Thermostats program, a demand response program that gives bill credits to residential customers for allowing the utility to adjust their thermostats on a handful of high energy use days.
Another Texas public power utility CPS Energy recently presented the utility’s efforts to its Board of Trustees as part of summer preparedness. The San Antonio utility has now completed preparedness activities as part of the formal response to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, it said on June 3.
CPS Energy attested that all transmission systems and generation units are fully compliant with all required readiness activities.
