DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - The group that manages the state's electric grid is predicting another record-setting demand for electricity this summer.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has released its preliminary Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy, which anticipates a peak demand day this summer of 79,696 megawatts.
"The forecast for this summer is looking like it's going to be higher than our peak demand record that we set last summer - approximately two-thousand megawatts higher," said Warren Lasher, ERCOT senior director of System Planning. "It's a combination of people moving to the state...and also economic growth in the state is driving that peak demand forecast that we're going to see on that hottest day of summer."
ERCOT does not anticipate in significant problems due to the fact that the state's estimated resource capacity this summer will be 82,417 megawatts - which his higher than the estimated peak demand.
"There are new facilities that are coming on-line," Lasher said. "Individual investors are making decisions about what power plants to build to serve this growing demand and they are building those resources faster than the actual customer demand is growing."