Since 2021, electricity demand within the Texas electricity grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has steadily increased. In the first nine months of 2025, electricity demand in ERCOT, which manages about 90% of the state’s load, reached a record high compared with the same period in … [continued]
In our annual survey of power plant activity, we ask operators of utility-scale batteries how they are using their systems, and one use case is increasingly prevalent: price arbitrage. Arbitrage involves buying electricity when prices are relatively low and selling that electricity when prices are high. Utility-scale battery systems can be … [continued]
In our most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast nationwide U.S. retail electricity sales to ultimate customers will grow at an annual rate of 2.2% in both 2025 and 2026, compared with average growth of 0.8% between 2020 and 2024. The forecast reflects rapid electricity demand growth in Texas and several … [continued]
AUSTIN, Texas — [This week], the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 819 by a 22-9 vote, restricting new clean energy projects in a way that will harm much-needed energy generation in the state. The legislation adds onerous requirements to new solar projects that would not apply to other energy sources … [continued]
Renewable energy in Texas is surging because of its low cost, so of course fossil fuel interests want new laws to protect their profits.
The demand for electricity is generally at its peak during summer afternoons, when many people use their air conditioners. Until this year, the bulk power system — the network of generators and transmission lines — met this demand through hydropower and fossil fuel generation. What a shift this past summer … [continued]
Last summer, U.S. electricity demand in the Lower 48 states was greatest at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on July 15, 2024, when it reached about 745 gigawatthours (GWh), based on data in our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. In our analysis, we calculate each day’s peak according to the hour with … [continued]
The beleaguered Texas power grid could get some much-needed help from the proposed Southern Spirit transmission line, except for a monkey wrench thrown into the works by state legislators in Louisiana.
In the United States, electricity consumption is growing fastest in Texas, where the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages 90% of the load on the state’s power grid. One of the main sources of growing demand for power is large-scale computing facilities such as data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations, … [continued]
We are pleased to announce a new study that examines the value of adding batteries to wind and solar plants located in areas that face transmission congestion. We examine two types of areas facing transmission congestion. These areas represent portions of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) or Independent System Operators (ISO) territory selected … [continued]
