Do I have to register again if I already get TXANS emails?

No. ERCOT transferred existing email subscribers to its new Regroup platform on November 10, 2026. Sign in to the TXANS portal with the email address already on file to add text messages or change contact details.

Are ERCOT grid alerts available in Spanish?

Yes. ERCOT sends both the email and text versions of TXANS notices in English and Spanish.

Does an ERCOT text mean my power is about to go out?

Usually not. A Weather Watch is issued while grid conditions are normal. Only Energy Emergency Alert Level 3 indicates that systemwide controlled outages are already under way.

Will TXANS tell me when my neighborhood will get power back?

No. The notices cover conditions across the ERCOT system rather than individual neighborhoods, and ERCOT directs people to their local electric utility for outage information.

ERCOT Text Alerts: How Texans Sign Up for Grid Warnings

TL;DR: Texans can sign up at ercot.com/txans to get Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid alerts by text message, email or both — text delivery is new under an upgrade ERCOT announced on November 10, 2026.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas — the grid operator known as ERCOT — said on November 10, 2026 that it had enhanced the Texas Advisory and Notification System, TXANS, so the public has one place to find grid notices. Subscribers can opt in to text messages for the first time, and sign-up or preference changes are handled at ercot.com/txans. Notices are sent in English and Spanish.

How to sign up for ERCOT text alerts

New subscribers: open ercot.com/txans and choose text, email, or both.
What the alerts cover: forecast weather, stretches of heavier demand and emergency steps ERCOT takes to keep the system reliable.
Current email subscribers: no second registration is needed. ERCOT moved the former LISTSERV list onto Regroup, a cloud-based notification platform, on November 10, 2026. Contact details and delivery preferences are changed by logging into the TXANS portal with the email address already on file.
Language: text and email alerts are issued in English and Spanish.
Backup channels: ERCOT's online dashboards, its Weekly Grid Update and its social media accounts also carry grid information.

What changed on November 10, 2026

ERCOT's market notice dated November 6, 2026 set the migration for the following Tuesday and said current subscribers would not need to take any action. The notice described the switch as a way to speed up delivery of its messages and give the public one comprehensive place to find grid notices. The Dallas Morning News reported that ERCOT is now able to send text alerts to the public for the first time. Before the upgrade, TXANS alerts reached the public by email. KPRC 2 noted that the 2023 version of TXANS was not designed to replace the separate emergency notices; the new setup puts those notices in the same system as the routine ones.

What each TXANS notification means

Six types now share one channel, and each marks a different degree of strain on the grid.

Weather Watch: advance notice when significant weather, high demand and thinner reserves are forecast. Grid conditions are normal at this stage, and ERCOT's December 2025 briefing describes the lead time as roughly three to five days.
Voluntary Conservation Notice: demand is expected to climb while reserves run lower. ERCOT asks households to cut electricity use for a specific period if it is safe, and asks government agencies to trim use at their facilities.
Conservation Appeal: issued when forecast demand could push the grid toward emergency operations. The conservation request carries the same safety condition.
Energy Emergency Alert Level 1: reserves sink under 2,500 megawatts with no expected recovery inside 30 minutes. ERCOT has not directed outages systemwide and asks the public to conserve.
Level 2: reserves go under 2,000 megawatts, or frequency holds below 59.91 hertz for 15 minutes. Controlled outages still have not been ordered, and ERCOT calls conservation critical.
Level 3: reserves go under 1,500 megawatts, or frequency slips below 59.8 hertz at any point. At that stage controlled outages are already spreading across the system and touch every customer class; ERCOT has told utilities in its region to cut demand locally.

The levels escalate: Level 1 is the first emergency step, and only Level 3 involves directed outages. ERCOT's briefing says the EEA scale exists to protect reliability and prevent an uncontrolled system-wide outage.

A Weather Watch is not an outage warning; ERCOT says grid conditions are normal while one is in effect.

Who runs TXANS and who oversees ERCOT

ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit with a board of directors, and it works under oversight from the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the state Legislature. The council schedules power across a grid with more than 55,000 miles of power lines and over 1,460 generating units. It serves more than 27 million Texas customers, roughly 90% of the state's electric load.

Why ERCOT merged the emergency alerts into TXANS

TXANS launched in May 2023 as an early-warning tool tied to weather-driven demand. At the time it carried Weather Watches and conservation notices, while Energy Emergency Alerts continued on a separate email distribution list. The November 2026 version folds all three EEA levels into TXANS and adds phone delivery.

ERCOT says the change should make notifications faster and easier for Texans to find. Operations Messages and Market Notices will still be posted on ERCOT.com.

"Communicating effectively with Texans remains a priority," ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said in the announcement.

What a text alert will not tell you

TXANS messages describe conditions across the state, not outages on a specific street. Anyone who loses power should contact their local electric utility for information about that outage, KPRC 2 reports. ERCOT also directs people with critical medical needs to check with their local utility during conservation events and energy emergencies. Real-time supply and demand figures stay on ERCOT's dashboards.

Turning alerts into household lead time

A Weather Watch arrives while the grid is still normal, which makes it the point to review conditions before any request to cut back. ERCOT's guidance at that stage is to monitor grid conditions, review its energy-saving tips and follow its social feeds.

When a conservation notice or appeal arrives, ERCOT's published tips include adjusting the thermostat a degree or two — higher in summer, lower in winter — if it is safe, skipping large appliances such as the washer and dryer, and unplugging non-essential lights and appliances. Pool pumps are better scheduled for early morning or overnight runs and switched off at peak times. The same page lists hot-weather measures, including ceiling fans and blinds closed on sun-facing windows.

An EEA Level 3 message is the one that points to outages rather than savings. ERCOT says households should be prepared to lose power during those controlled outages and should conserve electricity whenever service is back on.

Sources: ERCOT's November 10, 2026 announcement, the TXANS enrollment page, ERCOT's November 6, 2026 market notice, KPRC 2's November 11, 2026 report, The Dallas Morning News and ERCOT's December 2025 grid-notifications briefing.