“Due to continued freezing temperatures, very high demand, and unseasonably low wind, operating reserves are expected to be low during the morning hours of Monday, January 15, prior to the solar ramp up. As a result, ERCOT is asking Texans to conserve electricity use, if safe to do so, Monday, January 15, from 6 am – 10 am. ERCOT is expecting similar conditions on Tuesday, January 16, and will continue to closely monitor conditions and keep the public informed through our communication channels. Tomorrow’s conservation appeal does not indicate ERCOT is experiencing emergency conditions at this time. ERCOT will remain vigilant and communicate further if conditions change because of continued freezing temperatures and very high demand in the morning hours. At this time, if you are experiencing an outage, it is local in nature and not related to overall grid reliability.

“Please check with your local electric provider for more information. Conservation is a widely used industry tool that can help lower demand for a specific period of peak demand time, which is typically during the morning hours in winter. ERCOT is requesting all government agencies (including city and county offices) to implement all programs to reduce energy use at their facilities until at least 10 am tomorrow,” says a press release from the famously unreliable Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) warning of more death and misery wrought by their incompetence.

Lucky for Ted Cruz he at least has an alibi for not being in Texas this time around, as the US Senate is in session, requiring him to be in Washington pretending to work for his constituents.