WACO, Texas — Texas has seen a large increase in solar power this last year, which is why energy experts like Doug Lewin say they're not too worried about the grid holding up as we approach record-breaking usage this weekend.
"We have 95% more solar this summer than we did last summer," Lewin said.
"If we were talking last year and we were having these temperatures, it would be a very different discussion."
Texas set a new record for energy use on July 20th, 2022 with about 80,000 megawatts. The state's grid manager, ERCOT, is forecasting roughly 83,000 megawatts in demand by Monday.
"Unless something changes and demand goes much higher, thermal outages increase a lot or wind and solar production goes down a lot, if none of those things happen based on what it is right now, we'll be a little closer than you want to be for comfort, but that's still enough that you won't be in any sort of outage situation," Lewin said.
He said natural energy is a huge reason Texans have nothing to worry about.
"The solar power that we have produces beautifully at the 3, 5, 5, 6:00 right as the air conditioners are working the hardest typically," Lewin said.
Evenings are typically the highest usage for energy, but Lewin said the goal is to spread that demand throughout the day.
"You look at ERCOT.com and you see all these kind of rollercoasters, we don't want rollercoasters."
"These really big peaks we're getting, we need to move some of that to earlier in the day."
He recommends people turn their ACs on earlier in the day to pre-cool their homes. This way systems aren't working too hard during those peak times and chances of grid failure stay low.
With this weekend's temperatures as high as they're expected to be, it's important to stay cool, indoors, and of course hydrated.
"If you find yourself in a bad spot, you're not comfortable where you're at or you find yourself outside god-forbid during the hottest part of the day, you're welcome to come in and do that," Waco Interim Emergency Manager Ryan Dirker said.
The city of Waco has opened a cooling center for anyone who needs someplace to go with ac and cold water.
"It's important to us that we're there for anyone who needs it, even if it's only one person every once in a while," Dirker said.
"We want to be of value to the community."
That cooling center is located at Waco's multi purpose center on Elm Avenue. It is open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
