Texas’s power grid operator expects electricity usage to break an all-time demand record Tuesday, as homes and businesses crank up air conditioners to escape a heat wave sweeping across the state.
Texas’s population growth in recent years and its status as a hot spot for some of the most energy-intensive industries, including data centers and cryptocurrency mining, have increased the state’s energy consumption and increased stress on its vulnerable electrical grid.
After breaking peak demand records multiple times in April and May, Texas peak electricity demand is forecast to rise to 85,989 megawatts (MW) on Tuesday, surpassing the grid’s all-time peak of 85,508 MW set on Aug. 10, 2023, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
ERCOT, which operates most of the grid for 27 million customers, said it expected demand to decline to 85,921 megawatts on Wednesday.
The grid operator also said the power grid was operating normally, with enough supply to meet expected demand.
One megawatt can power 800 homes on a typical day, but only 250 on a hot summer day in Texas, when homes and businesses turn on their air conditioners.
Temperatures in Houston, the state’s largest city, are forecast to reach 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) on Tuesday, before dropping to 100 F (38 C) on Wednesday, according to AccuWeather forecasters.
Compared to a normal maximum temperature of 95 degrees Celsius (35 degrees Fahrenheit) for this time of year.
Next-day power prices at the ERCOT North Hub, which includes Dallas, jumped about 157%, hitting a two-week high of about $102 per megawatt-hour on Tuesday, according to pricing data from LSEG.
That compares with an average of $57 per MWh so far in August, $33 so far this year, $80 in 2023, and $66 over the previous five years (2018-2022).
Real-time prices in ERCOT rose to nearly $1,600 per MWh during a 15-minute window around 6 p.m. local time Monday, according to the grid operator’s website.
So far Tuesday, however, real-time prices have only hit a high of $32 per MWh during a 15-minute window.