[CCoE Notice] POWER WATCH ALERT

[Lewis, Lindsay R]

PLEASE NOTE AND NOTIFY THE APPROPRIATE AREAS IN YOUR COLLEGE.
 The Houston Chronicle has reported that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a Power Watch Emergency Alert Level 1 for our area.  A power watch indicates there is a possibility that due to high electricity demand or loss of additional large generation units causes their reserve power to be below their target threshold of 65,000MW, when this occurs, the ERCOT operators will begin emergency procedures to maintain system reliability such as power shedding.  In short, the probability of a power loss is higher than normal.
 It’s probable that UH will get a request for voluntary shedding before mandatory brown outs, however there is always a possibility that the campus may lose electrical power without notice.  Emergency generators are in place for all critical facilities, but there is always a momentary loss of power and/or a surge as the switch is made.
Lab personnel should be made aware of this situation and plan operations and experiments accordingly.