Not everyone is staying cool, as things hot up

More people means more air conditioners. More units means more energy. More energy … well, it's a vicious circle in the battle with climate change

The grid operator that delivers power to most of Texas set an all-time peak electricity demand record last week for the month of May. Hot weather, a healthy economy and a growing population have all given Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. reason to expect record-breaking summer usage.
 
The main driver of warm-weather peaks is air conditioning. Joshua Rhodes of the University of Texas told me that half of all summer peak demand in Ercot’s territory is from air conditioning, with two-thirds of residential electricity demand coming from AC. All told, home air conditioning makes up a little less