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Austin just weathered its hottest week ever as the electric grid races to keep up.
July 7-13 was the hottest week-long stretch ever recorded by Camp Mabry, which has records dating back to the 1890s.
The average temperature, using both the high and low from each day, came in at 92.9 degrees—0.1 degree hotter than the previous record set in August and September of 2011.
It's been a record-breaking year altogether—there were 21 100-degree days in June and an unseasonably hot May, marking record-breaking heat for both months.
The dramatic heat has led to a slew of other problems: Unhealthy levels of smog pollution caused by vehicle and industrial emissions reacting to the temperatures to boost ozone concentration, poor conditions for plants or livestock and worsening drought conditions.
Meanwhile, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the Texas electrical grid, asked Texans twice over the past week to conserve electricity as it struggles to meet demand.
In a press release on Wednesday, ERCOT cited extremely hot weather causing “record power demand,” wind generation disturbances from low wind, “forced thermal outages” and cloud cover impeding solar generation.
Though there were no widespread outages across the state, KXAN reported the tightened demand caused electricity to spike $5,000 per megawatt hour temporarily, the maximum allowed by the state.
It’s not going to let up anytime soon—Friday is the only day in the next two weeks that won’t be in the triple digits.
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