HOUSTON – With power outages arguably one of Texans’ newest fears, all eyes are on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) as it is expected to hit another historic high in energy consumption.

Of course, given the increasing demand for electricity, it should come as no surprise that ERCOT will hit another peak. According to ERCOT’s records, its grid has hit peak demand periods for several hours in a row each year.

In August 2023, a record high of 85,508 MW was reached, exceeding the peak demand of July 2022, which was 80,148 MW.

megawatt

Wondering how far one megawatt of electricity goes? You’re not alone. According to ERCOT, 1 MW is enough to supply about 250 customers.

ERCOT’s forecast changes in real time, but forecast power demand will reach 86,000 MW on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

The peak time is when people come home from work between 4 and 7 p.m.

“We’re going to see some record numbers for the rest of this week,” said Jian Shi, associate professor of engineering at the University of Texas.

Here’s the thing: neither ERCOT nor energy experts are surprised. In fact, this time last year, on August 10, 2023, we broke the all-time record for electricity demand.

ERCOT STATEMENT:

“Currently, the ERCOT grid is operating under normal conditions with sufficient supply to meet demand. ERCOT will continue to monitor grid conditions throughout the week. Texans can view grid conditions on the supply and demand dashboards on www.ercot.com. For more information on generation/demand, etc., see the June System Planning and Weatherization Update. Here and the System Operations Update, Here.”

Texas has been breaking its own record year after year for quite some time now.

The difference this time is that the grid operator does not expect any power outages due to the forecast supply during peak demand.

Gage Goulding: “Is there a possibility of power outages or something similar?”

Professor Shi: “At this point, based on ERCOT’s forecast, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem this time.”

The ERCOT grid is in a better position than it has been in years past thanks to the same factor that is causing us to use more electricity: the sun.

Professor Shi: “Since 2021, we have added more than 15 GW of new solar capacity to our grid.”

Gage Goulding: “In the last year, the grid’s capacity to generate solar energy has doubled. Is that true?”

Professor Shi: “Between 2021 and 2023, Texas nearly tripled its solar power generation.”

There is more in the works.

According to Professor Shi, over the next decade, Texas will install enough solar panels to generate an additional 100 GW of electricity, enough energy to power 25 million homes.

To make better use of the power of the sun, grid operators have installed huge batteries to store electricity until we need it most, such as during times of record-breaking peak consumption.

Professor Shi: “I think it will definitely be a game changer for Texas Grid.”

Gage Goulding: “Is renewable energy, particularly solar energy, the future of energy in Texas?”

Professor Shi: “Based on his current development, I would think so.”

It is safe to assume that Texas will continue to break its own energy records.

Our population is forecast to grow from 30 million to over 50 million people by 2050.

In addition, there are other production and economic factors that all require electricity.