Entering summertime in Texas, there is always a big concern with the incoming heat it brings. Not so much because it causes problems, but more so because, simply put, it is very hot. But after decades of no real issues, the Texas power grid has started seeing more problems than ever, leaving questions in the air of its efficiency and reliability.
We have already had some voluntary conservation requests this year, some coming as early as April. That always brings a bit of fear as well, considering the wake of the 2021 Winter Storm and the chaos those power outages caused. But that event brought some new updates and equipment to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), including some new weatherization, and the potential construction of new power plants.
But according to Brad Johnson of The Texan, things might not be as cheery as they look on the surface, thanks to the green energy agenda.
"The problem is that federal subsidies have caused a massive influx of renewable generation at the expense of reliable power...and state leaders are still trying to find how to counterbalance that," he says.
Many of our same problems still exists for the most part. A decent example was the May 16th Derecho, where over 1 million people in Houston were without power at one point. Not caused by summer heat, but a natural disaster all the same.
The power grid has also been strained though by massive population growth; with over 300,000 people a year being added to the Lone Star State. Some projections estimate th estates power demand will exceed 150,000 megawatts by 2030, a whole 40,000 higher than previously thought.
So, July is about to begin once again here in Texas, are we prepared to keep the lights on for everyone? Johnson says that is still somewhat in the air.
"The state feels prepared to avoid another catastrophe, but that does not mean they are fully confident we will not have issues this summer," he says.
But the even bigger challenge is making sure that a mountain is not made out of a mole hill.
"Rolling blackouts themselves are not that bad, they are mainly a nuisance...but the problem in 2021 was the lengthy, prolonged blackouts, and that is when catastrophe really hits," he says.
We got pretty close to demand exceeding supply last year, but that was also an outlier, as it was one of our hottest summers on record.
Johnson says though, eventually, new power plants should help keep things stable. But until then, green energy will continue to hamper the grid, and we could see some rolling blackouts this summer.