With Texas temperatures climbing to triple digits, families are getting out of the house to conserve energy.The kids are out of school for the summer. So Kosub is spending quality time with her family at Hemisfair Park in San Antonio.The heat is getting intense. So Kosub is thankful for the shade.Energy companies are working to keep residents happy. CPS Energy has developed a color-coded energy conservation system to keep customers informed.
“It’s four different colors that are all associated with the anticipated demand for that day. The demand for energy,” said CPS Energy Public Relations Manager Dana Sotoodeh.“‘Yellow days,’ those are days are days we’re expecting it to be extremely hot,” Sotoodeh said. “We’re expecting to see way more demand on our grid.”
“Every megawatt that we can save helps our grid and helps us to keep the lights on for our community,” Sotoodeh said. Even with multiple record-breaking heat days last year, San Antonio stayed at the green and yellow energy conservation levels, never experiencing the risk of power loss. “Orange and red are only when ERCOT tells us, ‘Hey we need more conservation,’ Sotoodeh said. “We haven’t had one of these days last year and we hope not to have one of those days this year.”“If it happens, it happens,” Mary said. “If it doesn’t, it’s even better.”