AUSTIN, Texas — Despite the excessive heat and triple-digit temperatures, some Texans say they are not shying away from being outside.
"I actually embrace it. I mean, it's just another season of life," Austin resident Amy Tourte said.
"I'm from South Texas, I'm from the [Rio Grande] Valley. So that is way more humid than this is. And this is actually kind of nice," said Fernando Rivera, another resident.
While these residents say they can brave the heat, ERCOT has issued a Weather Watch from now until June 21. This means the power grid operator is predicting high demand because of extreme weather. It is different from a voluntary conservation notice, which happens when there's too much demand and not enough projected supply.
So far, ERCOT doesn't anticipate there will be an energy emergency.
Doug Lewin, the author of the "Texas Energy and Power Newsletter," doesn't expect there will be any outages either. But he does admit he would like to see ERCOT take other measures to inform the public.
"I would like to see them start talking to the public about pre-cooling homes because if there is an outage, that makes it more safe for the people inside the house to sort of ride through that outage without getting unsafe and hot in the house," Lewin said.
Lewin said he would also like to see programs throughout ERCOT that compensate people for optimizing the way they use energy.
"If you want to raise your hand and opt in and help the grid be more reliable, you should be paid for that and it should be automatic. Make your house colder in the morning, have it use a little bit less in the evening. There are programs like that in states all over the country," Lewin said.
Lewin added that in order to save money for an energy bill, Central Texans could consider getting a smart thermostat to optimize energy use. By taking these measures, Lewin said it is not uncommon to save 20 to 30% year-round.