ACP Report: Texas power grid helped during heatwave by clean energy

According to a new analysis, clean energy helped the Texas electric grid stay up during the recent heatwave.

The report, released by American Clean Power (ACP), found that between June 19 and June 30, renewable energy resources delivered nearly a third (30 percent) of the state’s electric grid’s power during the peak 10 of demand hours. ACP said it was an all-time record for demand on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, and that strong renewable generation helped sustain the grid while keeping costs low.

“Our industry’s investment in solar, wind and storage in ERCOT has paid off for Texans during this heatwave,” ACP Chief Executive Officer Jason Grumet said. “Clean power is keeping the lights on at an affordable cost, cooling homes and businesses, and keeping people safe. The performance of renewable resources during this extreme weather event demonstrate the importance of resource diversity to grid resilience and economic security.”

Texas ranks first in the country for installed wind energy capacity with wind energy producing 22 percent of all the electricity in the state. Additionally, the state is second in the country for solar and storage. Clean power has brought more than $83.2 billion in investment into Texas, ACP said, generating more than $297 million in state and local taxes, and delivery more than $300 million annually to Texans via land lease payments.

Between mid-June and early July, Texas suffered a heatwave with several areas reaching triple digits. On June 20, ERCOT issued a watch for a “projected reserve capacity shortage” and asked customers to conserve energy, but the state never lost power due to demand. ERCOT said at the time it was not in emergency operations and controlled outages were not needed.