The Electric Reliability Council of Texas set a new all-time peak demand record on July 22, 2026, reaching 91,134 megawatts in the hour ending 6 p.m. Central time, according to ERCOT. The figure is preliminary until final settlement. It exceeded the previous record of 85,508 MW, set on August 10, 2023, by about 6%.
The grid met demand without declaring emergency conditions.
A large jump
A 6% increase over the previous peak is a large step for a grid of ERCOT's size. Peak demand records in Texas have typically been broken by smaller margins, reflecting gradual population and economic growth. The 2026 jump reflects both weather and structural growth in load, including data centers, cryptocurrency mining, industrial facilities and the electrification of oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin.
ERCOT has said for several years that large loads are driving its forecasts sharply higher. Its long-term load forecasts, which incorporate requests from large new customers, have projected demand far above current levels by the early 2030s. Not all of those projects will be built, and ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas have been developing rules to assess which requests are likely to materialize.
The role of solar and storage
Solar played a large role at the peak, illustrating how much the Texas grid has changed. ERCOT has added solar capacity faster than any other US grid in recent years, along with large amounts of battery storage. Summer peaks in Texas typically occur in the late afternoon, when solar output is still substantial. The more challenging hours come after sunset, when solar output falls but temperatures and air conditioning demand remain high. Batteries now discharge into those evening hours, helping to cover the period that previously caused the tightest conditions.
Natural gas remains the largest source of generation and the main source of firm capacity. Wind output varies, often weaker during summer heat waves in some regions of the state but stronger along the coast in the evening.
Large-load rules
The record comes as ERCOT implements new processes for connecting large loads. Texas Senate Bill 6, signed in 2025, set requirements for large loads of 75 MW or more, including disclosure of backup generation, contributions to interconnection studies and the ability for ERCOT to direct curtailment or the use of backup generation during emergencies. ERCOT's large-load interconnection queue has grown to a size many times its current peak demand, much of it from data center developers.
The question of how data centers behave during grid emergencies is central to these rules. In PJM, the grid operator issued a warning on July 2 asking large loads with backup generation to be ready to switch within 15 minutes during a record heat wave, under an emergency order from the Department of Energy. ERCOT has similar authority under SB 6 for new large loads.
Heat and climate
Texas summers have grown hotter over recent decades, and the state has experienced several record-breaking heat waves since 2022. Higher temperatures increase cooling demand and reduce the efficiency of thermal plants and transmission lines. Climate scientists project more frequent extreme heat in Texas, which grid planners incorporate into reliability studies.
Population growth adds to the effect. Texas has been one of the fastest-growing states, and new homes and businesses add air conditioning load. ERCOT's peak demand records over the past decade reflect the combination of heat, population and economic growth.
Transmission and the Permian
Load growth in West Texas, driven by oil and gas electrification and new industrial demand, has strained the transmission network there. The Public Utility Commission approved a large transmission plan for the Permian Basin, including the first extra-high-voltage 765 kV lines in ERCOT. These lines are intended to move power across long distances and support new load, but they will take years to build. In the meantime, local constraints can limit how much generation reaches growing load centers even when total supply is adequate.
Water and generation
Heat waves in Texas often coincide with drought, which affects thermal plants that rely on surface water for cooling. Reservoir levels and water temperatures are monitored by generators during long hot spells. Data centers in Texas also use water for cooling, and state lawmakers and water planners have begun to examine projected data center water demand alongside municipal and agricultural needs.
Prices
Real-time prices in ERCOT rise sharply when reserves tighten, because the market relies on scarcity pricing rather than a capacity market to signal the need for new resources. The record peak on July 22 was met with sufficient reserves, and prices did not reach the extreme levels seen during some earlier events. The growth of solar and batteries has dampened summer evening price spikes compared with a few years ago.
Demand response and flexible loads
Large flexible loads, particularly cryptocurrency miners, have become a feature of the Texas market. Many reduce consumption when prices spike, either voluntarily or through demand response programs, which lowers peak demand during the tightest hours. Some data center developers have said they can offer similar flexibility for parts of their load, though AI training and inference workloads are generally less interruptible. How much flexibility new large loads provide will shape how quickly ERCOT can connect them without adding generation.
Winter versus summer
While summer peaks are now higher, ERCOT's most serious reliability crisis came in winter, during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. Winter Storm Fern in January 2026 tested the system again, though without the load shedding of 2021. Planners now give considerable weight to winter scenarios, when solar output is low and gas supply can be disrupted by freezing conditions. Large data center loads add demand in both seasons.
Planning reserves
ERCOT publishes seasonal assessments of resource adequacy that estimate the probability of emergency conditions. Those studies now account for the growing contribution of batteries in evening hours and for the uncertainty in how quickly large loads connect. A record peak met with adequate reserves suggests the recent build-out of solar and storage has kept pace with demand so far.
What to watch
Key items include final settlement of the peak figure, whether further heat waves in August set new records, the pace of connections from the large-load queue, implementation of SB 6 rules and ERCOT's summer operational review, which will examine how resources performed during the peak.