A new report shows a growing industry in Texas could put a strain on the state's power grid this winter.
Winter power problems have been on Houston resident, Dolores Hidalgo's mind ever since the winter storm in 2021. In February 2021, an University of Houston report shows more than two-thirds of all Texans lost power for nearly three days during a winter storm.
"I think about it every year," Hidalgo said. "I get worried that we're going to lose power and it's going to be for weeks, and we're going to be cold."
Five years later, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has a new assessment on how prepared the state's grid, ERCOT, is this winter. The report shows ERCOT could be strained this winter due to data centers. They're facilities that house IT infrastructure systems.
"These are very, very large loads," Energy Ogre COO, David Kinchen, explained. "We're not talking like this is a large warehouse of load where a normal warehouse is mostly empty. We're talking like these are refinery-type loads."
An industry that's growing rapidly. Texas Comptroller figures show that before the winter storm five years ago, there were 13 registered data centers.
More on this story at ABC13Houston.
