ERCOT CEO Stuns Texas Officials With New Estimate For Power Needs

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The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is facing challenges as its president, Pablo Vegas, highlighted the need for a significant increase in generation capacity to cater to the rapidly rising demand on the state's power grid. Vegas mentioned that the grid might require up to 150,000 MW by 2030, attributing the need for more capacity to unanticipated demands from industries like AI data centers and crypto-mining. This projection has startled Texas policymakers and raised concerns about the sustainability of the current system, as the state's ratepayers might bear the burden of billions of dollars in investments for additional capacity.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick expressed surprise at the demand projections and criticized industries like AI and crypto-mining for placing strain on the grid without delivering significant public benefits. The rising power rates, which have increased rapidly in recent years, are proving to be a challenge for Texas residents. Despite efforts to encourage new natural gas generation through incentives like the Texas Energy Fund, the projected costs and timeline for capacity expansion indicate a pressing need for immediate action to avoid grid instability akin to what has been seen in other states.