By Scott DiSavino
(Reuters) – Electricity demand in Texas hit a record high on Tuesday as homes and businesses turned on their air conditioners to avoid a heat wave across the state.
Texas’ rapid population growth in recent years and the state’s position as a center for some of the world’s most energy-intensive industries, including data centers and cryptocurrency mining, have increased electricity demand and increased the strain on the fragile power grid.
After breaking peak demand records several times in April and May, peak demand in Texas reached a preliminary 85,558.98 megawatts (MW) on Tuesday, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, surpassing the previous record of 85,508 MW set on August 10, 2023.
The council, which operates most of the network for 27 million customers, expects demand to fall to 85,921 MW on Wednesday.
The grid operator also stated that the power grid was functioning normally and that there was sufficient electricity to meet expected demand.
On a typical day, one megawatt can power 800 homes, but on a hot summer day in Texas, when homes and businesses turn on their air conditioning, it can power only 250.
In Houston, the state’s largest city, temperatures are expected to reach 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday and then drop to 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) on Wednesday, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.
In comparison, the normal maximum temperature at this time of year is 35 °C (95 °F).
According to LSEG price data, electricity prices the next day at the ERCOT North Hub, which includes Dallas, rose about 157 percent on Tuesday to a two-week high of about $102 per megawatt hour.
By comparison, the average so far in August has been $57 per MWh, $33 so far this year, $80 in 2023, and $66 from 2018 to 2022.
According to the grid operator’s website, real-time prices rose to nearly $1,600 per MWh within a 15-minute interval around 6 p.m. on Monday.
