ERCOT electricity demand nears all-time record Monday
Persistent triple digit temperatures pushed electricity demand in Texas above 80,100 megawatts around 4:30 p.m. Monday – close to the all-time record demand and the equivalent of enough electricity to power 16 million homes with cranked up air conditioners.
The record for demand is 80,148 megawatts set last July, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s grid manager. That marked the 11th time last summer electricity demand broke the all-time record, and was the first time Texas had exceeded 80,000 megawatts.
The grid operator maintains an electricity supply and demand dashboard on its website that’s updated in real time, but it could take as many as five days for ERCOT officials to confirm the record.
MORE ON ERCOT: Five things to know about ERCOT as hot temps spike demand
Despite the scorching temperatures and surging demand, ERCOT on June 20 issued its only request for residents to reduce energy use back. The grid operator has issued a weather watch through the end of the week, meaning it expects hot weather and higher-than-usual demand. It has said there is enough electricity supply to meet demand through the period.
In its seasonal summer report released in May, ERCOT predicted peak summer demand would reach 82,739 megawatts. The report anticipates there will be enough power supply through the summer, as long as there’s not a rare simultaneous occurrence of sweltering heat, widespread natural gas and coal plant outages and low renewable generation, which would lead to a few hours of rolling blackouts to keep the grid intact.
On Monday afternoon just over half of the electricity on the grid came from natural gas fired power plants with another 20 percent coming from coal and nuclear plants. Around 11 percent came from wind power, and another 14 percent came from the state’s rapidly growing fleet of utility-scale solar farms.
Source: Houston Chronicle
