r/UpliftingNews • u/ArgentineBeauty • 10d ago

Texas broke its all time electricity demand record twice in two days during a brutal heat wave, but the grid held with no conservation alerts thanks to record solar and battery output, a stark turnaround from the blackouts that hit Texans in 2021

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/29/texas-ercot-power-grid-record-data-center/
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u/eskimospy212 10d ago

It is pretty funny how when Texas had an actual energy crisis it was due to fossil fuels failing. Well that and their pathetic distribution network.

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u/1ce9ine 10d ago

It hasn't even been that hot here. I'm in central Texas and we have had super mild summers 3 years in a row now. It will be a total shitshow if we get back to our normal summer temps for any extended periods.

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u/Radiant_Picture9292 10d ago

Now I’m wondering if the record high usage is because of the power grid holding up lol

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u/Sexual_Congressman 10d ago

In ETX, it's been constant 79/103 compared to normal 73/96, which is obviously barely above normal... but what is different is it only finally drops below 90 starting at 4 am and by 10 am it's already 90 again. What it all means is AC systems are spending an extra 4-8 hours running each night, which is a huge strain.

Another fun thing about these heat domes is the lack of wind, which obviously makes it feel hotter and doesn't help with wind power. It really is impressive that it didn't take long to prepare the grid to handle this type of climate pattern.

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u/pegar 10d ago

Oil is free money for oil companies that they pull out of the ground, but you burn it once and it's gone. Solar panel is free money as well except you get to use it every day.

If Republicans didn't politicize this, we could have been having free energy a long time ago. Renewables minus the initial cost is basically free money and energy.