Texas power demand breaks record during heat wave, prices spike

(Reuters) - The Texas power grid operator said electric demand was at an all-time peak as consumers cranked up their air conditioners to escape a brutal heat wave, breaking the previous record set four years ago and pushing prices to an 18-month high.

Next-day power prices at the Ercot North hub on the IntercontinentalExchange jumped from $66 per megawatt hour for Thursday to $175 for Friday, the most since February 2014.

Demand reached 68,459 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday and could go higher still Thursday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator for most of the state, said in a statement.

That topped the grid's previous record of 68,305 MW set on Aug. 3, 2011 during an extended period of record high temperatures. One MW is enough to power about 200 homes during periods of peak demand.

"With temperatures expected to continue to rise Thursday and Friday, we likely will see even higher demand the remainder of the week," ERCOT Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Brad Jones said.

Temperatures in Houston, the biggest city in Texas, hit 98 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) on Wednesday and were expected to be at or above 100 degrees every day through Aug. 15, according to weather forecaster AccuWeather.com.

ERCOT will monitor system conditions to determine whether to put into effect voluntary conservation measures "to maintain overall reliability and protect the grid," he said.

There are more than 73,000 MW of generation in the grid, according to the ERCOT website. ERCOT said wind generation contributed about 2,500 MW during Wednesday's peak.

Some of the biggest power companies in Texas include units of Energy Future Holdings, CenterPoint Energy Inc, American Electric Power Co Inc, NRG Energy Inc, Exelon Corp and NextEra Energy Inc.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Bernadette Baum)