Experts in the News

Texas energy demands may outstrip means this summer, though help might be found in green sources. “That extra solar supply, which, of course comes when it’s sunny and when our air conditioners are running most, that provided the difference last summer,” said Cohan.

The power grid is most strained in the late afternoon on very hot days, notes Rice faculty scholar Daniel Cohan. As Texas now has so much solar power, conservation is most needed when the sun is setting — not high noon as you might think.

Power grid demands over the summer have increased, but Texas has not increased the number of coal or nuclear plants in the state in the last 12 years. Economic growth is “pushing demand to all-time high records,” Rice faculty scholar Dan Cohan said.

Solar shines amid slow US renewable progress: It’s now cheapest for new grid electricity. But grid linkage remains slow, notes Rice Faculty Scholar Daniel Cohan, in Texas “over 100 gigawatts worth of projects waiting their turn to be connected.”

The IEA says coal demand will remain flat this year and next. And that’s a big problem, says Rice faculty scholar Dan Cohan. "Any year that we don’t see coal use decline dramatically is another year that we’re falling behind [on] Climate Goals."