Texas Heatwave: A Toast to Our Idiotic Power Grid

Well, well, well, looks like Texas is turning into a literal oven, and surprise, surprise, folks are actually shocked that cranking up the AC is causing a bit of a problem. Buckle up, morons, let's dive into the steaming pile of incompetence that is our power grid.

People are also reading: Does cracking your garage door keep your home cooler? Spoiler alert: It doesn't, you're just letting the sweaty air in.

ERCOT Reports Record-High Power Demand, as Predicted by June Report (Shocking, Right?)

So, the demand on the Texas power grid reached a record high on Tuesday, according to the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, who actually bothered to talk to the Dallas Morning News. Why? Because it's hotter than Satan's armpit out there, duh. Demand peaked at 85,559 megawatts, breaking last year's record. Thanks, global warming!

Apparently, the heat isn't the only thing to blame. Texas' growing population (yay, more people to hate) and those pesky industrial users like data centers and crypto miners are also sucking up power. And let's not forget, Texas is special and operates its own power grid to avoid those nasty feds. Because freedom, or something.

Despite the strain, most of the state still has power. Except for Harris County, where around 8,500 customers are sweating it out in the dark. Lovely.

Back in June, ERCOT predicted this mess and warned about possible emergency alerts. Because apparently, people actually need warnings to not run their ACs at full blast all day. The report says the risk is highest in the evenings when "solar production is ramping down." Great, so now we're blaming the sun too?

Walt Baum, CEO of Powering Texans, said, "It’s important to note that ERCOT’s recent monthly outlook for August is intended to help prepare for all possible scenarios, including a worst-case scenario that would see demand peak for a limited amount of time." Gee, thanks Walt, very reassuring.

Houston to Get Battery Energy Storage System (Because Obviously, We Need More Stuff to Break)

While some Harris County residents are currently enjoying power outages, Jupiter Power has announced the completion of its 400 megawatt hours (MWh) dispatchable power facility. The Callisto I battery energy storage system (BESS) is supposed to provide reliable zero-emissions power. Because that's what we need more of — promises that probably won't pan out.

The location, a former fossil fuel power plant, is now home to this new system. Maybe they should have just left it alone. Less stuff to break, right? According to the announcement, the plant will be capable of supporting an additional 400MW/800MWh of battery storage generation. Yeah, let's see how that goes.

So there you have it, folks. Texas is hot, the power grid is crap, and we're all just sitting here, waiting for the next blackout. Cheers!