<\/p>\n
The grid operator expects usage to set a demand record by Wednesday afternoon, when San Antonio could record its first 100-degree reading of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elias Valverde II\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas<\/a> is expecting record energy demand this week as temperatures across Texas<\/a> rise to triple digits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Grid demand is expected to surpass the previous record by Wednesday afternoon, when San Antonio and Austin could record 100-degree readings\u00a0\u2014 the first of the year for the Alamo City.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But while the grid operator is bracing for a surge in demand, it isn\u2019t calling for energy reductions or issuing emergency alerts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe grid is operating under normal conditions,\u201d said Trudi Webster, ERCOT communications manager. \u201cERCOT will continue to keep Texans updated through our communications channels.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d approach is\u00a0in part because of the massive amount of solar power that\u2019s been added to the grid, said Joshua Rhodes<\/a>, a power grid expert at the University of Texas at Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Weather this week includes July heat and a tropical storm: What San Antonio needs to know<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe same sun that heats up the buildings that drive air conditioning loads is the same sun that makes electricity at solar panels at that time,\u201d Rhodes said. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty well situated to have that surge in demand taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n The previous record of 85,508 megawatts<\/a> was set in August 2023, when blistering heat had air-conditioning systems across the state running nonstop\u00a0blasting out cool air. That was an increase of 10 gigawatts over the previous peak set in 2021, Rhodes said. Back then, though, less than 5% of the grid\u2019s energy came from solar power.\u00a0<\/p>\n Through the first half of this year, solar power accounted for more than 15% of the energy in the Texas grid, Rhodes said.<\/p>\n So when predicted peak demand sends usage surging to 89,897 megawatts at 4 p.m. Wednesday, the grid\u2019s available capacity is expected to exceed 122,500 megawatts, significantly more than what\u2019s needed. When the peak hits, Rhodes said, there will be about 33,000 megawatts of solar produced, providing the cushion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n ERCOT has been predicting that a growing population and commercial expansion, especially the boom in data centers, will lead to a string of records for peak demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED:\u00a0Texas power demand to more than quadruple by 2032 as data center boom rolls on, ERCOT says<\/a><\/p>\n The grid operator earlier projected\u00a0this summer\u2019s peak<\/a> would range from 90,500 megawatts to 98,000 megawatts. The high end of that is enough to power 24.5 million homes. But ERCOT says it has ample supply to meet even the highest projection, which would be a 15% increase over the current record.\u00a0<\/p>\n While demand is expected to peak Wednesday, it is expected to remain high throughout the week. Thursday\u2019s demand is expected to top 86,600 megawatts and Friday\u2019s demand is expected to be nearly 87,000 megawatts. Energy demand is expected to recede to levels below the current record over the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The National Weather Service office for San Antonio and Austin has issued a heat advisory for the San Antonio and Austin metro areas, with both expecting temperatures exceeding 100 degrees and excessive humidity. Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Laredo and McAllen all could see record daily highs Wednesday.\u00a0Temperatures could reach as high<\/a> as 106 degrees in the Dallas-Fort Worth region Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTemperatures could climb to 100 degrees or higher this week across much of Texas, with only a few exceptions in parts of the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas. Cities including Houston, Corpus Christi and San Antonio could reach the century mark for the first time this year,\u201d said Newsroom Meteorologist Mary Wasson-Triplett. \u201cWith\u00a0dangerous heat building across the state, Heat Advisories and Extreme Heat Warnings remain in effect through Wednesday.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The grid operator expects usage to set a demand record by Wednesday afternoon, when San Antonio could record…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[933,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-382303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-austinlatest","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n