{"id":16005,"date":"2012-08-02T15:52:26","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T20:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=16005"},"modified":"2012-08-02T15:55:57","modified_gmt":"2012-08-02T20:55:57","slug":"even-when-the-lights-are-on-in-texas-the-public-could-be-in-the-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/08\/02\/even-when-the-lights-are-on-in-texas-the-public-could-be-in-the-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Even When the Lights Are On in Texas, the Public Could Be in the Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images<\/p>

A unit at a major coal power plant shut down yesterday, causing concern at the Texas grid. <\/p><\/div>\n

Welcome to August, the month when we all keep a close eye on the Texas electrical grid. And it can be a difficult thing to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n

For instance, we temporarily lost up to 750 megawatts of power yesterday when a unit of Luminant’s Martin Lake<\/a> coal-fired power plant shut down in Northeast Texas. That’s enough power for 150,000 Texas homes at times of peak demand, and it comes at a time when the grid is already breaking monthly records for demand.<\/p>\n

But the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the state’s grid, wouldn’t confirm a short report in Reuters<\/a>\u00a0today about the shutdown. “We can’t comment on specific units,” Robbie Searcy, a spokesperson for ERCOT says. But more generally, Searcy does confirm that several units were “on forced outage yesterday.”<\/p>\n

There’s no easy way for the public to know when power plants have shutdowns. We just tried to learn more about the Luminant shutdown. But like a game of musical chairs starring your favorite acronyms, ERCOT suggested calling the PUC (Public Utility Commission). And the PUC, in turn, said to call the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality). Guess who the TCEQ said to call? ERCOT and the PUC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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