By Scott DiSavino

(Reuters] – Texas power demand is expected to surpass records this Friday and Monday. After failing to hit that record earlier in the week, economic growth has boosted usage. Homes and businesses will keep their air conditioners running to beat the heatwave.

EBW Analytics energy analysts said that less heat from thunderstorms and the fire at Texas’ Freeport liquefied plants in Texas helped to keep demand down.

EBW reported that Texas’ electricity demand was below… the same-day forecasts for each of four previous days.

Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the grid for over 26 million Texas customers and represents about 90% of Texas’ power load has stated that it has sufficient resources to satisfy demand.

Extreme weather recalls Texans the 2021 February freeze which caused millions of people to lose power during a severe storm.

AccuWeather predicted that Houston would see high temperatures. The city is the largest in Texas. It will rise to 98 F (or 36.7 Celsius) Friday, and then drop to 95 F Saturday and Sunday. This compares to a typical high of 91 F in Houston at this time of the year.

ERCOT had set a record for June with peak demand reaching 72,785 megawatts, Tuesday. This was after the ERCOT prediction that Friday’s usage would reach 76.065 MW and Monday at 76.143 MW.

It would surpass the August 2019 grid record of 74,520 MW.

A megawatt of power can supply approximately 1,000 homes in the United States on any given day. However, it is only 200 homes that are available on hot Texas summer days.

The ERCOT North Hub power prices, which include Dallas, reached a peak of $141/megawatt hour Friday, up from $106 on Thursday. Comparable to the average $62 for this year, that’s an increase of $141 per megawatt hour.