Solar eclipse 2024: Texas power grid sees impact

FOX 4 Staff
·1 min read
2

The total solar eclipse in North Texas had an impact on the Texas power grid.

Information from ERCOT, the state's power grid operator, shows the drop in solar energy during the time of the eclipse.

ERCOT's supply and demand graphs show the grid's committed capacity drop from the start of the eclipse at 12:30 p.m. to 1:40 p.m. when the moon's shadow covered the sun in a large part of the state.

At 12:15 p.m., the grid had more than 64,000 MW of capacity.

Those levels started dropping until they hit 54,000 MW at 1:40 p.m., the time of totality for North Texas.

If you look at just wind and solar, you can see the impact of the eclipse.

Solar generation dropped from 12,000 MW to just over 3,000 MW at 2 p.m.

The solar generation quickly rebounded once the moon's shadow got out of the way of the sun.

Despite the drop in solar energy supply easily outpaced demand.