By Scott DiSavino
(Reuters) -Power demand in Texas broke May’s record for the second time on Friday as prices rose ahead of the US Memorial Day long weekend, with homes and businesses cranking up their air conditioners to escape a heat wave.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages most of the state’s power grid for 27 million customers, said the system was operating normally and there was enough supply available to meet expected demand in the coming week.
ERCOT said energy demand rose to a provisional 72,695 megawatts (MW) on Friday, which would surpass the current May record of 72,261 MW set last Monday.
ERCOT’s forecast usage would break that new record on Monday, Memorial Day, when it predicts a peak above 76,500 MW.
The grid’s all-time peak was 85,508 MW on August 10, 2023.
Analysts expect ERCOT’s electric usage to surpass all-time highs this summer as economic and population growth in Texas and demand for power from data centers, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining soar.
One megawatt can typically power about 800 homes on a normal day, but only 250 on a hot summer day in Texas.
In the spot market, next-day energy prices at the ERCOT North Hub, which includes Dallas, rose to a two-week high of $141 per megawatt hour (MWh) for Friday, compared with $21 for Thursday, according to spot market price data. LSEG terminal.
That compares with an average of $31 per MWh so far this year, $80 in 2023 and $66 over the previous five years (2018-2022).
Day-ahead prices on the ERCOT website, meanwhile, rose to $654 per MWh for an hour Friday evening.
“May-to-date real-time prices are 50% higher than any year since 2010 (except for the 2022 price explosion). This results in more inefficient natural gas generators that use more gas… to keep the lights on,” analysts at consulting firm EBW Analytics Group said in a note.
RECORD-RESISTANT HEAT
According to AccuWeather meteorologists, high temperatures in Houston, the state’s largest city, will reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) on Friday and Saturday before rising to 96 degrees Fahrenheit on Memorial Day Monday.
The normal high temperature in Houston this time of year is 88°F (31°C).
AccuWeather said Friday’s forecast high temperature of 95 F would tie the day’s record set in 1955.
ERCOT’s forecast deliveries would exceed demand by 5,400 to 42,300 MW over the next week, with a low of 5,400 MW expected during an hour on the evening of May 26, after the sun sets and solar panels stop working.
That comfortable supply level is higher than ERCOT forecast earlier on Friday and assumes nothing changes.
But things are always changing: power plants and transmission lines shut down and come back into service, weather forecasts change, and storms cause outages.
