By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – For the second day in a row demand for electricity is expected to hit an all-time record today. So says ERCOT which operates the electricity transmission grid serving most of Texas.
Thus far ERCOT is asking consumers and businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity during the peak period between 3:00 and 7:00 pm.
But ERCOT says it may have to declare a level 2 emergency which allows operators to reduce electricity to large customers who are paid to dropped during peak energy use.
So far ERCOT has not indicated it will need to institute rolling outages like those experienced during last winter's ice storm.
Dallas Heat Deaths Hit 13
Dallas County officials have confirmed another heat-related death. 73 year-old Bettie Lawrence died yesterday, when the temperature hit a searing 110 degrees, a new record. Officials say high blood pressure was a contributing factor.
As Dallas logs its 33rd consecutive day of temperatures above 100, it has now recorded 13 heat-related deaths.
County Health and Human Services Director Zachary Thompson says stay cool. If you lack a working air conditioner, he says the county will deliver and install one for free.
Thompson: We're encouraging people to only call us if they don't have a working ac unit. Don't call us if you have a working AC unit, because you may prevent us from getting it to somebody who really needs it.
Thompson says the county will deliver about 50 AC window units today, to qualified residents. Thanks to donated dollars, Thompson says he has enough money to buy hundreds of small air conditioners for those in need.
Triple-digit heat wave stifling residents in Texas
Even watermelons at a produce stand aren't luring folks from their air-conditioned cars in one Texas town amid one of the state's hottest summers.
Minerals Wells residents on Wednesday were staying indoors as temperatures soared to 110 degrees.
Outdoor antique shops in Mineral Wells were nearly deserted too, and nearby Possum Kingdom Lake had few boaters and fishermen. A reality TV show for the A&E network about Texans who hunt feral hogs had to suspend filming.
The searing sun forced construction workers to take long afternoon breaks in many North Texas cities.
Houston activated emergency cooling shelters.
Extreme heat affects Texas rail lines
The Texas heat wave has affected some rail service as high temperatures threaten to warp tracks.
The Denton County Transportation Authority has enacted a heat-speed restriction this week, with a slowdown in train speeds from 60 mph to 45 mph for the passenger line between Denton to Carrollton.
A DCTA vice president says the slowdown is for safety reasons because of the extreme heat.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit says Trinity Railway Express trains, between 2 and 9 p.m., will also operate at reduced speeds this week.
Union Pacific Railroad on Tuesday afternoon notified New Braunfels police that a train was blocking a crossing due to heat-related problems with a section of rail.
Traffic was rerouted as the line was checked. It reopened Tuesday night.
Perry's order creates Texas online university
Gov. Rick Perry has ordered the creation of a new collaborative online university.
Perry signed an executive order Wednesday that initiates the Western Governors University Texas, a subsidiary of the nonprofit Western Governors University. The WGU was founded in 1997 by 19 governors, including former Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
Perry's order instructs state agencies to cooperate in establishment of WGU Texas. Perry says the online school will provide an affordable, flexible way for "Texans to fulfill their potential and contribute their talents for years and decades to come, without any need for state funding."
WGU spokeswoman Joan Mitchell says the collaboration will enhance accessibility for Texas students.
The online university mainly serves working adults and offers degrees in business, information technology, education and the health professions.
Texas closing prison as part of cutbacks
Texas is closing a 102-year-old prison southwest of Houston in a money-saving move.
Michelle Lyons with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told the Austin American-Statesman that the Central Unit in Sugar Land will be vacant by the end of the month.
Lyons says inmates have been relocating to other units. About 80 felons and 200 correctional officers remain on site -- working to move the prison system's soap factory to the Roach Unit in Childress and a prison trucking hub to the nearby Ramsey Unit.
Once the prison is vacant the Texas General Land Office will take over, handling an expected environmental assessment among other steps needed to put the 325-acre Central Unit site on the market for development - through a sale or lease.
Prosecution close to resting case against Jeffs
Prosecutors are still questioning their final witness in the Texas trial of a polygamist leader accused of sexually assaulting two girls he took as brides during so-called spiritual marriages.
Texas Ranger Nick Hanna was on the stand for a second day Wednesday, and prosecutors were close to resting their case against Warren Jeffs.
The 55-year-old leads the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.
Prosecutors showed a photograph of Jeffs hugging one of his alleged victims. The 12-year-old is barely tall enough to clear his midsection.
On Tuesday, audio recordings seized by police were played that show Jeffs instructing a 14-year-old girl how to please him sexually.