Sustained high temperatures have contributed to persistently high electricity demand in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the regional transmission organization for most of the state. Hourly load in ERCOT averaged a record 74.5 gigawatts (GW) for the week ending August 22, 2026. Average hourly load for the week ending August 29 came in just below that at 73.7 GW, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Hourly Electric Grid Monitor.
The week ending August 22 was 10% greater than the highest hourly average for any week in summer of 2025 and 6% greater than the previous record of 70.0 GW set in 2023. The past six weeks, from the week ending July 25 through the week ending August 29, have all exceeded the 2023 record. Amid the record-high demand, ERCOT is auditing proposals from data centers to connect to the grid, following Texas Governor Greg Abbott's recent moratorium on new data center interconnections.
The sustained load levels suggest that Texas electricity demand is not merely experiencing a short-term weather spike but a broader shift in consumption patterns. The fact that six consecutive weeks exceeded the prior record indicates that high temperatures are compounding with structural demand growth, including from large-load customers such as data centers. The interconnection audit and moratorium signal that grid planners are now scrutinizing how much additional load can be safely accommodated.
What remains unknown is how long the near-record demand will persist and whether ERCOT will face reliability challenges if temperatures remain elevated into September. The dossier does not provide data on available generation capacity, reserve margins, or the outcome of the data center interconnection audits. It is also unclear whether the moratorium will alter near-term load growth or whether additional policy actions will follow.