ERCOT: 2008 Energy Consumption Up 1.7 Percent

Report says June '08 energy use exceeded use in the same month in '07 by 11.8 percent.

PRESS RELEASE, Jan. 22, 2009 -- Energy consumed in the ERCOT region in 2008 totaled 312,401 gigawatts, a 1.7 percent increase over 2007, according to the 2008 demand and energy report. The month of June had the highest increase over 2007 at 11.8 percent, followed by July with 11.3 percent and May with 9.6 percent.

The report also includes a breakdown of total energy consumed by fuel type:

Fuel Type      2008             2008               2007
            MW hours    Percent of Total   Percent of Total
Natural Gas  132,698,486        43.0               45.5 
Coal         114,735,669        37.1               37.4
Nuclear       40,708,940        13.2               13.4
Wind          15,237,876         4.9                2.9
Water            769,583         0.2                0.4
Other          4,808,901         1.6                0.4

The peak hourly demand last year was 62,174 megawatts (MW), recorded on Monday, Aug. 4, in the hour-ending at 5 pm. This 2008 peak did not top the all-time maximum peak demand of 62,339 MW, recorded on Aug. 17, 2006.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to 21 million Texas customers – representing 85 percent of the state’s electric load and 75 percent of the Texas land area. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects 38,000 miles of transmission lines and more than 550 generation units.