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Texas electricity struggles to keep up with its population explosion
As fireworks bring in July alongside a record-setting heat wave, new highs for Texas power usage forebode rol l ing brownouts throughout Bastrop County.
The core deregulated power grid of Texas, the same that provides Bastrop County with its electricity, is employing strategically scheduled absences of electricity throughout the state to try and combat the higher demand for power. These rolling brownouts will cut electricity in hour-long intervals, bouncing back and forth between neighborhoods for several hours.
“When your population goes up 24%, it scares me.”
— Devon Bass, managing partner of Vault Electricity According to the Texas Demographic Center, Texas has the largest population growth of any state in recent years, around 24%. Compared to the state’s dispatchable power supply, the back up when all other sources are maxed out, that has grown by only 1.5%, the grid is not prepared to handle the higher demand in summer months. Residents rely on AC to stay cool and comfortable amidst the potentially dangerous temperatures outside.
“When your population goes up 24%, it scares me,” said Devon Bass, managing partner of Vault Electricity. “We’re not replacing the 24/7 power plants as quickly as we’re closing them.”
Power usage reached 80,828 megawatts this past Tuesday, breaking the record high set last year, said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT will ask Texans to conserve how they can, but that’s not always a realistic or healthy option for some in this heat surge.
Texas continues to close down coal and natural gas plants without bringing on enough 24/7 electrical capacity generators to backfill the grid. Wind and solar options have grown and are important options to turn to, but when the sun goes down and winds subside there just isn’t enough capacity in the infrastructure to match the booming population, Bass said.
A new peaker plant capable of powering 38,000 homes is under construction, set to be operational for 2025, but with a population surge of 470,000 in 2022 alone this is just a drop in the bucket.
Rolling brownouts are a reality that Bastrop County residents will unfortunately have to face. The lapses of power can be potentially harmful for electronics, so best practice promotes unplugging important devices. Stay hydrated and shaded to help combat health risks when stuck in the dark.
