Sunnova helps keep your power on when you need it most
Wandering around the old Spanish colonial architecture in San Antonio, Texas feels like a step back in time. Then you turn the corner on a summer afternoon and the sizzling temperatures bring you back to present day. The city's rich culture may have been preserved, but the climate is noticeably different.
Since 1970, the city of San Antonio has warmed roughly 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit, outpacing both the state of Texas and the nation as a whole.* By the end of this past June, the Alamo City had already experienced more than a full summer's worth of 100-degree days — and the hottest months were yet to come.
Extreme heat isn't the only outcome of our changing climate. Warmer oceans pull in more water vapor and heat that leads to heavier rainfall while rising sea levels create higher storm surges as winds push water inland.* So, aside from driving up the demand for electricity to keep homes safe and cool, changing weather patterns also fuel severe weather that can take down the grid for days, even weeks. There's never been a better time for San Antonians to reduce their reliance on the power grid.
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San Antonio's Power Grid Challenges & How They Impact You
If weather patterns have been changing for decades, isn't the grid able to handle these fluctuations? After all, it's 2022.
Texas is unique in that it operates a power grid that is basically disconnected from the rest of the nation. This means the Lone Star State's power grid isn't subject to federal regulations, but Texas can't borrow power from neighboring states if its grid fails — as illustrated by the February 2021 deep freeze.
What does this mean? When electricity demand soars in the hot summer months, the grid will be pushed to its breaking point as supply struggles to meet demand. Experts describe Texas' competitive energy market as a “crisis-driven market,” where energy providers make money based on scarcity of supply — the sheer opposite of a market focused on reliability.*
In the spring, record-breaking heat caused six of CPS Energy's power plants to trip offline. Since then, San Antonio's utility, the largest municipal utility in the nation, has periodically asked customers to reduce their consumption to reduce strain on the grid and help prevent a widespread power outage.
If companies like CPS Energy cannot meet the growing demand on days of triple-digit temps, Texans are left taking matters into their own hands. And they're using the same ball of fire that creates a sweaty slumber by mid-August.
How to Plan for Rolling Blackouts and Electric Outages in San Antonio
It's never the right time for a power outage. But preparation is crucial. The best way to plan for a San Antonio outage is to install solar plus battery storage. When you commit to solar and energy storage in Texas, not only are you locking in your electricity cost for 25 years, but you're also saving the clean energy your panels produce to use later, like when the grid goes down.*
A power outage or rolling blackout in San Antonio can be concerning. As storms rolled into the Alamo City in mid-July, more than 10k customers were left without power due to 72 separate outages.* It's no longer a question of if the power will go out at your home; it's a matter of when.
Electricity demand records were broken on a consistent basis throughout July and show no signs of slowing.
As a Texas homeowner, you don't have to settle for unreliable power. When you choose solar with a battery for your San Antonio home, you can ensure your energy security. By generating, storing and consuming your own power, you can declare your energy independence and keep your electricity flowing, even on the hottest days. Then, even when temperatures climb, your stress levels don't have to.
