AUSTIN, Texas — The state’s energy operator, ERCOT, is asking some power plants to pause scheduled maintenance this week because of rising temperatures that are expected to increase demand for power. With higher temperatures this spring, experts say changes are needed to the grid to handle future extreme weather event. 

ERCOT expects a spike in temperatures Tuesday night, bringing the energy demand close to the supply. ERCOT did not ask Texans to conserve electricity. Instead, some plants are asked to stop planned maintenance and instead supply energy.

“This is not uncommon for ERCOT to call for a halt to maintenance activities but when they do this defers the maintenance on these power plants and we see more breakdowns during the summer,” said Ed Hirs, a University of Houston Energy Fellow. 

With hundreds of people moving to the state every day, some energy leaders want to see a shift from fixing the grid to investing in the future of it. 

“Our companies continually invest in the infrastructure of the grid both in the transmission distribution space but also in the generation space. We just need more electrons on the grid to serve the people of Texas and the industries of Texas,” said Mike Bell, president of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas. 

Last fall voters approved the Texas Energy fund, and $5 billion was allocated from the state budget surplus to repair existing power plants and toward low-interest loans to develop new power plants. 

“If I were a big generation company with a bunch of units, I would not really be wanting to add or bring back three or four power plants because I would know that by doing so, I would only keep the price down,” said Hirs. “I would much rather see a squeeze and see the price go up like it’s forecast to do for this afternoon. And well make a significant profit at the expense of normal Texas.” 

Advocates for solar power want to see lawmakers invest in other energy sources to decrease the dependability on the grid. 

“Most solar homeowners use their own solar. They don’t use the grid while the sun is shining and so that is an automatic reduction in demand,” said Pete Parsons with the Texas Solar Energy Society. 

ERCOT expects the power emergency to end Wednesday, but experts predict as temperatures rise this summer so will people’s energy bills.