The figure is the highest demand ever recorded on the Texas grid, and analysts say further records remain possible before summer ends. How far the old record fellThe July 22 peak was 6 percent greater than the previous peak of 85.5 GW, set on August 10, 2023, according to ERCOT. The grid handled the surge with no emergency alerts and operating reserves above 10 GW, according to an ERCOT spokesperson. The evening timing reflects a structural shift on the Texas grid: solar output falls sharply after midday, pushing critical scarcity hours later into the afternoon and early evening. ERCOT entered 2026 with more than 233 GW of large-load requests in its interconnection queue, and data centers make up about 77 percent of that total.