Texas grid alerts now reach phones by text, including all emergency levels
Source report: 2026-11-10 · Editorial analysis published: 2026-11-11
ERCOT’s updated TXANS system adds opt-in text messages. For miners, grid alerts, local outages and a hosting provider’s instructions answer different questions.
An extra way to receive a grid alert
ERCOT, the operator of most of the Texas electricity grid, launched an updated public notification system on November 10. The Texas Advisory and Notification System, or TXANS, now lets people opt in to text messages alongside email. The system covers weather watches, two kinds of conservation requests and all three levels of energy emergency alert. For someone running a Bitcoin miner in Texas, it is another way to see a grid notice while away from the machine.
ERCOT’s November 6 market notice scheduled the move of existing email subscribers for November 10. The operator says those subscribers are transferred automatically from the old mailing list to the new Regroup platform. Adding text messages is a separate choice. People can manage their preferences or enroll through the TXANS page. ERCOT sends the alerts in English and Spanish.
Weather warnings come before emergencies
A Weather Watch means that expected weather and demand could leave the grid with less spare capacity. ERCOT says grid conditions are normal during a watch. A Voluntary Conservation Notice asks people to save electricity during a particular period where safe. A Conservation Appeal signals that expected demand could push the grid toward emergency operation and also asks people to reduce consumption.
For a household, the timing in the message is more useful than the fact that a phone buzzed. A miner that can be paused may be one of the loads a household can cut if safe. A machine also used to heat a space changes that choice, because switching it off removes a source of heat. In either case, the alert is information about the grid and the operator’s request for that period.
What the three emergency levels tell you
ERCOT calls the three stages Energy Emergency Alerts, or EEAs. Level 1 is the first stage of emergency operation. It can follow operating reserves below 2,500 MW when ERCOT does not expect them to recover within 30 minutes. Reserves are the spare power available to help meet demand. Level 2 means conservation becomes critical. ERCOT lists reserves below 2,000 MW with the same recovery condition or a separate frequency trigger.
At level 3 ERCOT directs utilities to cut demand quickly, which can mean controlled outages at the local level. Its rules list reserves below 1,500 MW or a separate frequency trigger. The first two levels do not themselves announce systemwide controlled outages. For a specific address, the local utility remains the place to check whether the power is out and when it expects restoration.
A miner can go offline for several reasons
A home miner can stop submitting work because electricity went out, because its network connection failed or because the machine itself stopped. A grid text supplies context. The router or utility status can clarify a local interruption, while the pool dashboard shows when shares last arrived. Shares are the results a pool accepts as evidence of work. Looking at the times together helps tell a local failure from a wider event.
A hosted miner may pause because its operator follows a power contract that allows temporary reductions. This is often called curtailment. The hosting company controls that equipment and can explain why it paused, when it expects to resume and how the contract treats the time offline. Public texts do not enroll a customer in a demand-response program, change their power price or determine any compensation.
The alert sets a time window
Suppose a miner draws 2 kW steadily and the owner pauses it for 90 minutes during a voluntary conservation request. The miner uses 3 kWh less during that period. That is the difference at the device, before considering other loads such as cooling or replacement heat. The electricity bill effect depends on the rate that applies in that window and the rest of the household’s consumption.
A household choosing to pause and a site receiving a contractual dispatch can both reduce load, but the records that matter differ. The household can compare meter readings and the alert window. A hosted customer can ask for the site’s downtime record and check the agreement for billing or credit terms. TXANS provides the grid notification in each case.
Choose the notices that match the decision
TXANS lets subscribers choose email, text or both. Existing subscribers can manage settings using their registered email. ERCOT still publishes operations messages and market notices on its site. An operator who wants to know whether a specific facility is running can also look to the utility or hosting provider, depending on who controls the site.
The November 10 release is about how notifications reach people. It does not report a new emergency or a tariff change. The practical benefit is a public way to learn about Texas grid conditions, read the type and timing of an alert, and then check what is happening at the machine.
Source: ERCOT / TXANS launch and market notice ↗ · TXANS alert levels and enrollment ↗ · ERCOT migration notice M-A110626-01 ↗ · ERCOT current grid conditions ↗
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