Texas used more electricity at one time this summer than ever before.
On July 22, electricity demand on the ERCOT grid reached 91.1 gigawatts (GW), breaking the previous record by 6%. The record came during a heat wave at 6 p.m., when natural gas supplied 48% of ERCOT generation and solar supplied 32%.
Texas electricity demand has been climbing for several years. During the first nine months of 2025, ERCOT demand was 23% higher than during the same period in 2021, driven by economic growth and increasing electricity use from large consumers including data centers, manufacturing and cryptocurrency mining.
More electricity demand means Texas needs more generation to meet it, and solar and battery storage are becoming a larger part of that supply.
Solar and batteries are growing with Texas demand
Solar accounted for 4% of ERCOT electricity generation in 2021 and 12% in 2025. EIA expects utility-scale solar generation in ERCOT to grow from 56 billion kilowatthours in 2025 to 106 billion kilowatthours in 2027.
Battery storage is growing quickly too.
The timing matters because electricity demand doesn't disappear when solar production begins declining in the evening. During summer 2025, batteries on the ERCOT grid supplied an average of about 4 GW at 8 p.m., helping meet demand as solar generation fell. EIA expects ERCOT battery capacity to increase from approximately 15 GW in 2025 to 37 GW by the end of 2027.
Natural gas will continue to play a major role as well. What is changing is the mix of resources Texas has available as electricity demand grows.
What does this mean for your home?
You can't control how much electricity Texas uses, but you have more options for managing how your own home gets and uses electricity.
Solar can reduce the amount of electricity you need to purchase from the grid while your system is producing. Adding battery storage allows some of that energy to be saved for later, including evening hours when solar production has declined.
A properly designed solar and battery system can also provide backup power during an outage. How much it can power and for how long depends on the battery capacity, your electricity use, which circuits are backed up, available solar production and the length of the outage.
This is why system design matters. Looking at how much electricity your home uses and when you use it can help determine whether solar, battery storage or a combination of the two makes sense for what you're trying to achieve.
What happens next?
Texas electricity demand is expected to continue growing, although exactly how quickly remains uncertain. Data centers account for a large share of the major new loads seeking to connect to ERCOT, but not every proposed project will ultimately be built or operate at its requested capacity.
What we do know is that Texas is already responding with significant additions of generation and storage. Solar generation is growing, battery capacity is expanding rapidly, and natural gas continues to provide a substantial share of the electricity Texans use.
Homeowners may not be in a position to solve Texas' electricity demand problem. But they can have more control over their energy at home, whether that involves electricity costs, how the energy their system produces is used or having backup power available when the grid goes down.
If you have questions about solar or battery storage, you can schedule a free, no-obligation 10-minute discovery call.