{"id":89790,"date":"2025-07-24T22:45:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T22:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/89790\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T22:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T22:45:09","slug":"how-the-texas-power-grid-is-staying-strong-during-the-texas-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/89790\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Texas power grid is staying strong during the Texas summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">But so far, that hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Even as Houston hit 100 degrees for the first time this summer and Texans used nearly 82,000 megawatts of electricity on Wednesday \u2014 the highest demand so far this year \u2014 the state\u2019s power grid is holding steady.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Texans used 81,855 MW of energy on the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ERCOT_ISO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@ERCOT_ISO<\/a>  grid during peak usage on Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;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\u00b0F in Houston. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/POC3wRq48l\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/POC3wRq48l<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Gage Goulding &#8211; KPRC 2 (@GageGoulding) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GageGoulding\/status\/1948372127649796382?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">July 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">That\u2019s a noticeable change, to Houstonians like Adelina Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cBeing out of power for weeks on weeks&#8230; it\u2019s like PTSD,\u201d said Gaza. \u201cIs that going to happen over again?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">So far this summer, the answer is no.<\/p>\n<p><b>What\u2019s changed? <\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">In years past, extreme heat or winter weather would send ERCOT \u2014 the Electric Reliability Council of Texas \u2014 scrambling to warn residents to conserve energy, sometimes even triggering rolling blackouts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">But this year? No conservation warnings. No blackout threats.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cIf we did shatter those records, let\u2019s say we approached 86, 87 gigawatts, we\u2019ve currently got enough generation across the state to meet our reliability needs,\u201d said Matt Boms, executive director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasadvancedenergy.org\/about-taeba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.texasadvancedenergy.org\/about-taeba\">Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Since the deadly 2021 winter storm that left millions without power, Texas has been rapidly expanding its energy supply. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Nearly 90% of the added capacity has come from wind, solar and battery storage, according to Boms.<\/p>\n<p>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 &#8211; All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThose have been the key drivers behind our state staying reliable during these summer heat waves,\u201d he said. \u201cIf not for those three technologies, our grid right now would be struggling to keep up with that increasing demand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Demand keeps growing<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Texas is booming, and so is its need for power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">ERCOT forecasts that by 2030, daily electricity demand could reach 150,000 megawatts \u2014 nearly double today\u2019s all-time high.<\/p>\n<p>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 &#8211; All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">To meet that demand, the state is leaning heavily on renewable energy. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Eight out of every 10 new power projects seeking to connect to ERCOT\u2019s grid are solar or battery systems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s the cheapest and quickest form of energy to build right now,\u201d Boms said.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Without those additions, he said Texans would likely be facing energy scarcity or sky-high prices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThat makes me feel a little bit more confident,\u201d Garza said. \u201cAnd I guess it\u2019s a good thing too, that it\u2019s coming from the sun. I like that. It makes me feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 With temperatures soaring to triple digits across Texas this week, many Houstonians are bracing for what&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":89791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[59867,24071,59866,6386,2096,1171,4345,728,6172,1176,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-89790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-electric","9":"tag-electricity","10":"tag-ercot","11":"tag-harris-county","12":"tag-heat","13":"tag-heatwave","14":"tag-houston","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-power","17":"tag-summer","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114910640712791898","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}