CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There's no doubt you've felt the intensity of Texas' scorching summer heat, especially as you rush to adjust your air conditioning.
Even with power usage being at one of its highest points during the year, ERCOT did not issue any energy conservation alerts this summer.
Texas House Rep. for District 32 Todd Hunter said legislation passed in recent years plays a key factor in that.
"In the past a lot of folks didn't know, even I didn't know is the grid working," he said.
Hunter said that Winter Storm Uri was a huge wakeup call for state lawmakers about the need for transparency and clear communication, especially during large-scale weather events.
During the 87th Texas Legislative Session, Senate Bill 3 was passed, requiring the creation of an alert system, similar to an AMBER Alert, to relay important information about the power grid.
"I've been informed several times that there's going to be a high spike in usage, just because it's so hot and we've had triple digits across the state," Hunter said.
Residents can even visit ERCOT's website to view real-time information about the power grid's conditions for themselves.
Texas A&M University-Kingsville Mechanical Engineering Professor Jua Li said that newer forms of energy have also helped alleviate strain from the power grid, specifically solar energy.
"When we talk about solar energy, the key factors you have to have enough are sunlight, the second you need is space," he said.
But even with all this projected growth, Hunter said that there's still more to do.
"We can still improve, this is just some improvement we've seen; there's a lot more we can do.," he said.