Gas remains the workhorse of the Texas grid
Much has been made about the expansion of wind and solar power, but in the hottest days of August, Texans depended on gas to avert rolling blackouts
The Texas electricity grid made headlines over the summer—most of them crisis-related. Grid managers at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) were forced on many days to issue conservation pleas to users as statewide temperatures regularly soared well over 100°C, creating record demand. In past summers, such requests from ERCOT have been rare, coming mainly during the hottest days of August. “The Texas grid is tired,” said Rob Allerman, senior director of power analytics at research firm Enverus, by which he meant that ERCOT had been asking operators of many coal and gas power plants in the state to delay scheduled downtime for maintenance and upgrades until the crisis-filled sum
![](/images/white-fade.png)
Also in this section
5 September 2024
The 20th century’s two global conflicts made clear the geopolitical importance of oil, while Russia and Saudi Arabia joined the US as hydrocarbons superpowers
5 September 2024
In the second part of our history of oil special on the ascent of the US, Russia and Saudi Arabia, we examine the early years of the age of oil
5 September 2024
In this first part of the first chapter of our 90th anniversary special on the history of oil, we look at oil’s humble beginnings and the start of its rise to prominence
2 September 2024
The island nation plans to phase out nuclear energy and substitute coal for gas, but must first overcome import capacity constraints