HOUSTON – With electric and power outages becoming arguably Texans’ latest fears, all eyes are on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) as it is expected to reach another historic demand for energy usage.
Naturally, with the growing power demand it shouldn’t come as a surprise that ERCOT will reach another peak. According to ERCOT’s records, its grid has reached peak demand hours consecutively each year.
In August 2023, the record peaked at 85,508 MW, surpassing its peak demand from July 2022, which was at 80,148 MW.
megawatts
| Year | Month | Demand (in MW) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 (to date) | January 16 | 78,349 |
| 2023 | August 10 | 85,508 |
| 2022 | July 20 | 80,148 |
| 2021 | August | 73,687 |
| 2020 | August | 74,376 |
Are you wondering how far one megawatt of power can go? You’re not alone. According to ERCOT, 1 MW is enough to serve about 250 customers.
The forecast from ERCOT changes in real-time, but forecasted electricity demand to hit 86,000 MW on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
The peak time is when people come home from work around 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
“We’ll be seeing some record number for the rest of this week,” said Associate Professor of Engineering Technology Jian Shi with the University of Texas.
Here’s the deal: both ERCOT and energy experts aren’t surprised by this. In fact, this time last year we broke the all-time record for electricity demand on August 10, 2023.
STATEMENT FROM ERCOT:
“At this time, 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 monitor grid conditions on the Supply and Demand dashboards on www.ercot.com. Additionally, for information on generation/demand etc., please visit 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.
What’s different this time around is the grid operator is not expecting to see any blackouts thanks to the forecasted supply during the peak demand.
Gage Goulding: “Is there a possibility that we would see blackouts or anything like that?”
Professor Shi: “At this point, based on ERCOT’s forecast, I don’t think we will have a problem this time around.”
The ERCOT grid is in a better position than in years past thanks to the same issue that causes us to use more power: the sun.
Professor Shi: “Ever since 2021, we have installed more than 15GW of new solar capacity to our grid.”
Gage Goulding: “Over the last year, the grid has doubled in its solar producing capability. Is that true?”
Professor Shi: ”Between 2021 and 2023. Texas almost tripled our solar generation.”
There’s more in the works.
Over the next decade, Professor Shi says Texas is set to install enough solar panels to generate another 100 GW of power, or enough energy for 25 million residential homes.
To help harness the power of the sun, grid operators have installed giant batteries to hold electricity until we need it most, like during times of record peak usage.
Professor Shi: “I think it’s a definitely a game changer for Texas Grid.”
Gage Goulding: “Is renewable energy, specifically solar energy. Is that the future of Texas power?”
Professor Shi: “Based on the current trajectory of his growth, I would think so.”
Expect Texas to keep breaking its own energy records.
Our population is predicted to grow from 30 million people to more than 50 million by 2050.
Plus add in more manufacturing and economic drivers that all demand electricity.