Time to read: 4.5 minutes
In our recent posts, we’ve increasingly covered the reasons that energy prices have been going up across the state of Texas. So far, we’ve gone over the cost of natural gas prices as well as environmental factors such as the extreme heat and weatherizing grid infrastructure.
Today, we’re going to be exploring something related to the increased demand for energy and how it has been affecting Texans over the course of the summer. Texas has been fortunate enough to avoid a massive, rolling summer blackout by taking additional measures to provide electricity. This is because Texas has ended up having to spend a massive amount of money to meet the demand for electricity.
The price of keeping up with energy demand
Since winter storm Uri in 2021, Texans have been concerned with the possibility of higher energy bills and rolling blackouts caused by record-breaking temperatures. Now that summer is nearing its end, Texas has (so far) avoided rolling blackouts. This, however, has come at a price in the form of much higher electric bills caused by several different things. As we have stated before, higher temperatures and the rising cost of natural gas are two reasons for the increase in costs of electricity.
Demand for energy has increased
To put this summer into perspective, according to Reuters, ERCOT’s demand records for electricity were broken 11 times over the summer. Higher temperatures and a larger population than the grid was designed for have translated into higher demand for electricity.
With increased energy demand for the grid comes more strain on the lines that transfer the electricity to Texans. This leads to a term that may be very new to some Texans: line congestion.
What exactly is line congestion?
It likely comes as no surprise that when you have a certain amount of infrastructure that once too many consumers attempt to use it, something is going to break or at least strain somewhere. This is especially true when it comes to transferring electricity.
Line congestion is when part or a line segment of the power grid has become overloaded with electricity. This causes the wire to retain too much heat, leading it to stretch out and touch other wires and structures. When this occurs, wire breakage and shorts happen. To avoid congestion, ERCOT instructs some generators to either increase or decrease power production in order to reduce the strain on the congested portions of the grid. The issue with this is that, not only does the increased demand for power increase the risk that congestion can damage the grid’s aging infrastructure, the costs for changing the dispatch levels of these generators are passed on to consumers. This is where generators and natural gas begin to factor more heavily into the increasing price.
ERCOT has been using generators to meet energy demand
In order to meet the demand for energy over the summer, ERCOT activated generators in order to create energy reserves that, according to a statement by the Executive Director of the Texas Competitive Power Advocates Michele Richmond in an article by Reuters, “the current market does not support or to provide higher demand times when expected renewable energy has been unavailable”. These generators also run on natural gas, and with the price of natural gas increasing, the cost of running generators also increases, thereby placing a higher financial burden on Texans who have to pay the cost. This also applies when the generators are not needed. The generators are providing more power as a manner of safety net, but the cost of running them goes to the utility companies, which are then placed on consumers.
Generators that are used to either increase or decrease power in order to deal with congestion results in higher prices for consumers because the congestion costs are included as an add-on to your energy rate.
Solar is the solution
As with all the issues with rising prices with the power grid in Texas, IES Texas Solar has the solutions you need to offset or even completely avoid rising energy costs, regardless of the issue. While the heat, natural gas prices, and things like electricity congestion are driving prices up to provide a safety net of power, a Solar Powered System can give you the stability and energy independence you and your family need to keep electricity costs down.
- Lower monthly electricity bills
- IRA has increased the tax credits you can claim from 26% to 30%
- Power your home with your Solar Powered System during the day, and switch to backup batteries at night
- Generac® generators can keep the power on in the event of an emergency
Whether it’s searing heat or frigid winter weather, solar panels paired with backup power solutions gives you and your family everything needed to keep costs low and your comfort level high
If you are considering switching to solar for your home or business, reach out to us by going to our website, iestxsolar.com, or by giving us a call at (855) 447-6527.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/ business/energy/texas-grid-avoids-summer-blackouts-with-1-billion-extra-spending-2022-08-25/
https://tcaptx.com/city-matters/what-is-electricity-congestion#:~:text=In%20simple %20terms%2C%20congestion%20is,integrity%20and%20possible%20wire%20breakage
