This summer, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) — the state’s electric power distributor — set 10 new all-time peak demand records, including in Central Texas. The state’s all-time peak demand record of 85,464 Megawatts was set on Aug. 10.

ERCOT gathers power from fossil fuels, wind, solar and other sources like batteries, but when not enough is generated to meet demand, ERCOT calls for voluntary conservation notices, followed by conservation appeals and eventually, emergen...