Houston Chronicle by Bernard L. Weinstein July 18, 2019
Houston has recorded a half-dozen 95 degree-plus days so far this summer, and we’re weeks away from August, the hottest month of the year. Last year, the second hottest on record in Texas, included a 10-day stretch of triple-digit temperatures.
Which raises a question. Is the Texas power grid, managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, up to the task of keeping the lights on and the air conditioners humming? Today, total installed generation capacity is about 78.6 gigawatts while ERCOT is predicting peak demand this summer of 74.9 gigawatts. That leaves a very small reserve margin. Should several large power plants go offline for maintenance or a broken gas line, we will likely see brownouts or blackouts.
Unlike most other states, the demand for power is growing steadily in Texas, thanks to the continuing influx of people and businesses as well as our booming energy industry. (We sometimes forget that it takes energy to make energy). However, investment in new natural-gas plants has lagged. In addition, several large coal plants have recently been shuttered, which means the loss of nearly five gigawatts of capacity.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Renewable-energy-can-t-keep-Texans-A-C-14103550.php