In early December, the American Clean Power Association (ACP) released an analysis highlighting how recent significant additions of energy storage capacity over the past year in Texas have resulted in lower energy costs for consumers, the ability to avoid conservation appeals, and enabled the power grid to better navigate extreme weather events.

Texas has seen skyrocketing energy demand in recent years due to increasing population, electrification, and new industrial energy users. The state set records for electricity demand in both 2023 and 2024. This rise in demand, coupled with increasing weather events, has resulted in significant stress placed on the power grid in Texas.

Key findings of the new ACP analysis include:

1 – Energy demand in Texas has skyrocketed over the past two years.

2 – Large capacity additions of energy storage (5 GW) over the course of one year in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region helped outpace rising energy demand.

3 – Energy storage capacity additions contributed to $750 million in cost reductions, creating savings for consumers.

4 – Energy storage capacity additions helped prevent conservation appeals during Summer 2024 and helped ERCOT navigate prolonged moments of stress that would traditionally threaten the grid with power outages.

ERCOT has confirmed the important role that energy storage plays in maintaining reliability at critical moments in a cost-efficient manner.

“Energy storage is doing the job it was designed to do, delivering affordable power for Texas during the most critical moments, whether historic heatwaves or winter storms,” said Noah Roberts, VP of Energy Storage for ACP. “This flexible resource is both boosting the reliability of the grid and delivering cost savings for families and businesses. It has truly been a game changer for the state and ERCOT’s ability to navigate moments of stress on the power grid.”

“Significant load growth in ERCOT over the last two years has created record-setting electricity demand in the state and new stresses on the power grid,” said John Zahurancik, Fluence President, Americas. Fluence provides energy storage products and services, as well as cloud-based software for renewables and storage assets. “During this time of growing demand, we’ve seen a rapid deployment of battery storage capacity across the state, increasing 5X from 2022 to 2024 and delivering more than $750 million in savings for consumers. As this analysis clearly demonstrates, these battery storage resources are central to an all-of-the-above approach to energy independence, and a commonsense solution that brings greater flexibility, resilience, and affordability to the state of Texas.”

“Texas continues to experience strong growth and unprecedented energy demand,” said Eric De Caluwé, Managing Director of Flexible Generation for ENGIE North America. an energy company focusing on long-term, efficient, carbon-reducing solutions, primarily renewable and low-carbon energy solutions.

“Battery storage is essential in meeting this demand by providing cost-efficient energy when it is most needed. As storage developers and operators, we are dedicated to ensuring that Texas residents and businesses have reliable electricity. Battery storage lowers consumer costs by storing surplus energy and releasing it during peak demand, avoiding the need for more expensive resources. These systems are highly flexible and respond quickly, significantly enhancing grid reliability during critical moments.”

In the past year alone, ERCOT has deployed 5 GW of energy storage. This has contributed to the state’s ability to outpace rising energy demand and help avoid conservation appeals and power outages.  In addition, Texas is expected to continue adding large amounts of energy storage capacity to its grid, with nearly 4.5 GW currently under construction and an additional 7.3 GW in the pipeline.