October 21, 2026 · Reviewed by WattFacts

ERCOT summer demand reached 91.1 GW, EIA reports

An October 15 EIA analysis puts ERCOT’s July 22 peak hourly demand at 91.1 GW, above the previous record of 85.5 GW. The comparison describes grid demand, not a change to a household electricity plan.

Coverage: The ERCOT balancing authority in EIA’s hourly dataset; not all of Texas. Source published October 15; reviewed by WattFacts October 21, 2026.

What changed

Peak hourly demand in EIA’s ERCOT series

Before: 85.5 GW on August 20, 2024: the pre-2026 record cited by EIA.

After: 91.1 GW on July 22, 2026: the summer record cited in EIA’s October analysis.

Why it matters: higher peak demand puts the balance between available supply and electricity use in focus. A demand record alone does not show whether reserves were adequate, whether outages occurred, or what caused an individual service interruption.

For your bill: this report does not announce a change to your retail contract. Check your own plan documents and renewal date before making a switching decision. To explore how usage affects costs, use our electricity bill calculator; compare current Texas electricity plans when you are ready to shop.

Data limits: EIA uses balancing-authority submissions to Form EIA-930. Reporting issues and later revisions can affect the figures, and values published directly by ERCOT may differ. The chart compares two dated records rather than a complete annual series.