Climate change driving strain on electric grid

Media Contacts
Luke Metzger

Executive Director, Environment Texas Research & Policy Center

AUSTIN, Texas — ERCOT issued on Wednesday its second appeal to Texans to conserve energy this week. The conservation request comes as record-breaking temperatures scorch the state. 

In response, Environment Texas Executive Director Luke Metzger released the following statement: 

“Weeks like this week are the new normal as global warming, primarily driven by the extraction, production and burning of fossil fuels, gets worse. Record-high temperatures like we’re seeing this week, that require air conditioners to work harder, will continue to strain — and may break — our electric grid. Texas will only get hotter, and our grid less stable, unless we act quickly to move away from fossil fuels. 

“Make no mistake:  We need more solar panels, wind turbines and battery storage for true energy independence — not less, like fossil fuel merchants would have us believe. We need to reduce demand for electricity with big investments in energy efficiency and rooftop solar panels. We need to ramp up renewable energy production, with more solar farms and offshore and coastal wind that blows strongly even during the summer, and build transmission lines to bring that power to our cities and rural areas. And we need to better connect our grid with the rest of the nation’s, so we can import power when we need it and sell surplus power when we don’t.”

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