Tuesday saw a two-fold increase in Texas power costs as a result of the state’s record-breaking hot temperatures driving up cooling demand.
Tuesday’s tremendous heat wave in Texas saw a 100% increase in power bills. From $2,500 earlier in the day, the price for a megawatt-hour skyrocketed to approximately $5,000. On Tuesday, temperatures in several sections of Texas reached 110 degrees.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state grid operator, reports that by the evening, the cost of electricity had increased to roughly $5,000 per megawatt-hour.
A new high temperature record of 114 degrees was achieved on Tuesday in San Angelo, Texas, breaking the previous mark of 111 degrees.
The Rio Grande Valley’s Del Rio also recorded a new high temperature of 113 degrees. Dallas and San Antonio also achieved new records during this time.
The state of Texas has tropical-level humidity, which compounds the heat effect and makes it seem like 120 degrees or more, increasing demand on electricity supply and costs.
The electricity grid will be put under a lot of stress because the heat wave is predicted to last more than a week.
In fact, ERCOT forecasts that electricity usage on Wednesday would reach a new high, increasing to 80,458 megawatts from 79,203 MW on Tuesday. That would be higher than the current record, which was set in July 2022 and stands at 80,148 MW.
Next week, the heat wave is anticipated to break more records as ERCOT predicts demand will hit 82,080 MW on Monday and 83,555 MW on June 28.
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