ERCOT Daily Peak Demand

## What this measures

The maximum hourly system-wide load on the ERCOT grid for each operating day, in megawatts.

## Why it matters

Peak demand is the number the grid is built for. Its trend is the sum of population, heat, and the new large loads — data centres, crypto, industrial electrification — arriving in Texas faster than anywhere else.

## How to read it

Seasonal by nature: summer afternoons set the annual peak. Read the same calendar week year over year, and read summer peaks against the capacity figure ERCOT publishes alongside them.

## What it does not say

Peak is not consumption. A hot day with a high peak can carry less total energy than a long mild one.

## Source

ERCOT MIS report NP6-345-CD (Actual System Load by Weather Zone), public; history from the Native Load archives. Daily.