The Heat is On

It’s a hellacious week, even by Texas standards. A heat dome is sitting over Texas, and temperatures will be well above 100 in most of the state all week. 

Unfortunately, it’s not hard to imagine this kind of heat getting worse — far worse — later this summer and especially in future years. Climate experts can’t quantify the upper bounds of what’s possible but suffice it to say we haven’t experienced it yet. Outrageous heat and greenhouse gas-fueled climate extremes are the new normal, and we’d better get prepared. 

I wrote last week about how solar, storage, and commercial demand response are making a determinative difference this summer in keeping Texans’ lights on and air conditioning running. But that may not be enough when the heat gets even worse, which it will. 

So let’s look at some additional tools that could make the grid more reliable over both the short and long term…