Fall 2024

The shoulder months are the spring (March 15-May 15) and fall months (September 15-December 15), when peak demand is typically lower due to milder seasonal temperatures. Shoulder months are important in the electric industry because it is then that grid operators, such as ERCOT, typically work with the grid’s generation and transmission providers to schedule planned outages for system upgrades and maintenance ahead of the high demand periods of winter and summer.

Generally, ERCOT can support most requested outages; however, if grid conditions change, ERCOT may adjust the outage schedule, reduce outage restoration time, and/or adjust the system configuration to maintain reliable grid operations.

Visit ERCOT’s generation outage dashboard to view planned and forced generation outages within the system in real-time.