HOUSTON – With temperatures soaring to triple digits across Texas this week, many Houstonians are bracing for what they fear the power grid might not be able to hold up.
But so far, that hasn’t happened.
Even as Houston hit 100 degrees for the first time this summer and Texans used nearly 82,000 megawatts of electricity on Wednesday — the highest demand so far this year — the state’s power grid is holding steady.
Texans used 81,855 MW of energy on the @ERCOT_ISO grid during peak usage on Wednesday.
It’s the most power used this year, topping the all-time winter usage of 80,525 MW during the February 2025 freeze when temps dipped to 20°F in Houston. https://t.co/POC3wRq48l
— Gage Goulding – KPRC 2 (@GageGoulding) July 24, 2025
That’s a noticeable change, to Houstonians like Adelina Gaza.
“Being out of power for weeks on weeks… it’s like PTSD,” said Gaza. “Is that going to happen over again?”
So far this summer, the answer is no.
What’s changed?
In years past, extreme heat or winter weather would send ERCOT — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — scrambling to warn residents to conserve energy, sometimes even triggering rolling blackouts.
But this year? No conservation warnings. No blackout threats.
“If we did shatter those records, let’s say we approached 86, 87 gigawatts, we’ve currently got enough generation across the state to meet our reliability needs,” said Matt Boms, executive director of the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance.
Since the deadly 2021 winter storm that left millions without power, Texas has been rapidly expanding its energy supply.
Nearly 90% of the added capacity has come from wind, solar and battery storage, according to Boms.
Of all the new power generation added to the ERCOT grid since the 2021 winter storm, energy experts say 90% of that has been in the form of wind, solar and battery storage. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)
“Those have been the key drivers behind our state staying reliable during these summer heat waves,” he said. “If not for those three technologies, our grid right now would be struggling to keep up with that increasing demand.”
Demand keeps growing
Texas is booming, and so is its need for power.
ERCOT forecasts that by 2030, daily electricity demand could reach 150,000 megawatts — nearly double today’s all-time high.
ERCOT, the operator of the Texas power grid, predicts a daily demand of 150,000 MW by the year 2030. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)
To meet that demand, the state is leaning heavily on renewable energy.
Eight out of every 10 new power projects seeking to connect to ERCOT’s grid are solar or battery systems.
“It’s the cheapest and quickest form of energy to build right now,” Boms said.
Without those additions, he said Texans would likely be facing energy scarcity or sky-high prices.
“That makes me feel a little bit more confident,” Garza said. “And I guess it’s a good thing too, that it’s coming from the sun. I like that. It makes me feel good.”
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.