How California avoided widespread blackouts during its heat wave when Texas couldn't during its freeze

As Californians brace for another afternoon of triple-digit temperatures, the state's grid operator has asked residents to conserve power for the ninth-straight day. That California's grid is on the brink of emergency conditions during a heat wave has sparked a flurry of conversations on Twitter, with folks both criticizing and praising the state's response. Others have compared the response and situation to Texas' recent electricity woes. Famed newscaster Dan Rather, a native Texan, noted: "There was an unusual weather event in California and Governor Newsom asked residents to pitch in during a moment of crisis. People responded for the good of the community. The crisis passed with the electricity still on. Is a better model what we experienced in Texas?"

But while the situation facing California differs in many ways to what Texas dealt with during the February 2021 freeze, some issues faced by both the California Independent System Operator and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are remarkably similar. Here's a look at the differences and similarities of the two states' power landscapes. Abnormal heat waves don't stress the grid in the same ways abnormal freezes do. In the Texas freeze and the West's current heat wave, demand for power spiked. Peak demand in California could rise above 51,300 megawatts, which would be a record. ERCOT shattered its own demand record at least 11 times this summer, reaching 80,000 megawatts for a few minutes in late July. One megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes on a hot Texas summer day. (Despite having more than 10 million more people, demand in California is much less than it is in Texas, thanks to their typically temperate weather and relative lack of heavy industry, experts say.) During the freeze, demand for power in Texas also spiked well above the winter average, with some experts saying it could have reached 77,000 megawatts if not for ERCOT telling utilities to cut power. Before that order, ERCOT also told Texans to conserve power, similar to how California is asking residents to do the same now. But there is a huge difference -- the amount of power generation available.