Texas Power Grid Preparing For Record Energy Demand During Summer

The power grid that supplies energy to much of Texas says it's preparing for record demand this summer.

"The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is anticipating record-breaking electric demand this summer due to expected hot and dry conditions and continued economic and population growth throughout the region," ERCOT said in its latest seasonal update.

The organization hopes to avoid a repeat of the February blackouts, which was caused by ERCOT's inability to meet the high demand for electricity during winter storms.

ERCOT is also releasing updates in an effort to restore the public's trust.

"We recognize that we failed to appropriately communicate potential risks going into the winter season. These scenarios heading into the summer season is trying to actively not only communicate the risk but also restore trust with the consumers of Texas," Warren Lasher, ERCOT senior director of system planning, told FOX 7.

ERCOT created extreme weather scenarios in its summer assessment, like what it would do if all of Texas' major cities had record heat while being unable to generate energy from wind and solar sources and having other generators offline. The grid operator expects there to be a less than 1% chance that any of its extreme weather scenarios will happen.

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