Texas Governor Takes Credit for Solar, Battery Reliability

Atlantic:

The cost savings from renewables are so great that in Texas—Texas, mind you—all of the electricity growth over the past decade has come from wind and solar alone. This has made energy grids more reliable, not less.

During the summer of 2023, the state faced several near failures of its electricity grid; officials had to call on residents to conserve energy. The state responded by building out new renewable-energy sources to stabilize the grid. It worked. “The electrical grid in Texas has breezed through a summer in which, despite milder temperatures, the state again reached record levels of energy demand,” The New York Times reported last September. “It did so largely thanks to the substantial expansion of new solar farms.”

Doug Lewin – Texas Energy and Power Newsletter:

Solar produced 13% of the power in the first six months and wind 27% for a total of over 40%, according to numbers recently released by ERCOT. That’s up from just under 35% for the full year in 2024. The percentages are even more impressive because energy demand is up 6% in the first half of this year. Every single month in 2025 had higher energy consumption than 2024 as shown below.

Between wind, solar, and nuclear, Texas is 50% emission free so far this year – and again, that comes with increased reliability. Some would present a false choice between low emissions, low prices, and high reliability but it turns out all three are possible particularly when battery energy storage systems are a major component of the mix, as they are in ERCOT.

While energy was up, peak demand in June did not come close to ERCOT expectations or to last year’s June record. Temperatures were not as hot in June this year as compared to 2024 but the rise in energy consumption coupled with lower peaks also suggests that large energy users are more effectively managing their peaks, moving energy use into other times of the day and night and away from the late afternoon / early evening hours. That increases system utilization and decreases reliability risks.