For six consecutive weeks starting in late July, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas recorded weekly average peak loads that all surpassed a record set in 2023, the Energy Information Administration reported Sept. 3. Hourly demand in ERCOT territory hit a record average of 74.5 GW during the week of Aug. 22, coming shortly after the grid operator reached a new single-hour peak of 91 GW on July 22. Unrelenting high temperatures drove persistently elevated electricity consumption across the region throughout the summer.
The weekly average for the period ending Aug. 22 came in 10% higher than the peak weekly average recorded during summer 2025 and exceeded the prior record of 70 GW from 2023 by 6%, according to the EIA. Every week from late July through the end of August broke the 2023 benchmark. The July 22 peak demand was primarily supplied by natural gas generation at 48% and solar resources at 32%, based on data ERCOT reported to the agency. Texas now operates roughly 53.5 GW of solar capacity, and solar deployment reached a record 35 GW on July 22, the same day the grid hit its all-time peak.
"Sustained high temperatures have contributed to persistently high electricity demand," the EIA stated in its report. ERCOT projected peaks exceeding 90 GW every day during a mid-August week when temperatures were expected to consistently top 100 degrees, yet no supply shortages materialized. The grid operator said on its website that based on anticipated weather patterns, it expected sufficient generation to satisfy demand throughout summer 2026. One energy analyst noted the stark contrast with PJM, which declared an energy emergency when approaching its peak demand record, while Texas shattered its pre-2026 record seven times in July alone without triggering any emergency protocols.
The massive expansion of solar resources explains why ERCOT handled record-breaking demand without the emergencies that plagued other grids facing similar stress. Solar generation's ability to deliver peak output during afternoon hours, when air conditioning drives demand to its highest levels, allowed the grid to meet unprecedented consumption even as temperatures soared above 100 degrees for days on end. ERCOT's long-range forecast projects peak loads will continue climbing to 154 GW by 2035, though a separate analysis from Ascend Analytics predicts a more conservative 120 GW peak in 2030.
As demand reaches historic highs, ERCOT is reviewing roughly 300 proposals from data centers seeking grid connections, following Governor Greg Abbott's recent pause on new data center interconnections. The grid operator aims to finish its audit of these applications by December. With peak loads projected to more than double over the next decade and data center demand adding pressure, Texas faces the challenge of expanding generation capacity fast enough to maintain the reliability it demonstrated this summer when solar power kept the lights on through record heat.