Texas Power Use to Top Winter Record as Bitter Cold Descends

By Bloomberg

Dec 23, 2022

image is BloomburgMedia_RNAW78T1UM0W01_23-12-2022_05-23-02_638073504000000000.jpg

HOUSTON, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 21: Texas flags fly near an electrical substation on February 21, 2021 in Houston, Texas. Millions of Texans lost their power when winter storm Uri hit the state and knocked out coal, natural gas and nuclear plants that were unprepared for the freezing temperatures brought on by the storm. Wind turbines that provide an estimated 24 percent of energy to the state became inoperable when they froze. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

(Bloomberg) -- Texas is forecast to use an unprecedented amount of electricity for this time of year as frigid temperatures descend on the second-largest US state on Friday.

The winter record of 69.8 gigawatts is expected to fall with demand projected to reach at least 70.9 gigawatts early Friday, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the grid. A gigawatt is enough to power about 200,000 Texas homes.

A winter storm could wreck holiday travel.Source: Bloomberg

The price of power to be delivered Friday evening surged above $500 per megawatt-hour in some areas, up more than five fold from Thursday.

Texas officials have been assuring residents the power grid is up to the challenge and there’s no danger of a repeat of the February 2021 catastrophe that killed more than 200 people. This week’s storm is forecast to be shorter and less extreme.

More than 53,000 customers didn’t have power in the state at nightfall Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us.

Ercot and state regulators have worked to winterize equipment and take other steps to protect the grid during extreme weather, but critics have warned those reforms won’t be enough.

--With assistance from .

(Adds number of power outages in state in penultimate paragraph.)

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By Josh Saul