That happened early Tuesday, when ERCOT called on about 4,000 megawatts of battery storage to help meet the morning demand crunch. Those same batteries were charging up during the day to be ready for when the sun goes down and demand spikes again for the evening temperature drop.

After a statewide blackout in 2021 and a massive Austin outage in 2023, cold weather means energy anxiety for many in Central Texas.

Snow, sleet and freezing rain across Central and South Texas could bring down power lines, causing localized outages beginning Monday evening.

According to Operations Messages on the ERCOT website, around 5 a.m. ERCOT issued a Transmission Emergency in South and Southeast Texas.

Below-freezing temperatures will return to Texas as soon as Jan. 18, according to the National Weather Service. Grid conditions are expected to be normal and officials do not anticipate an emergency,

ERCOT leaders said they've been keeping a close eye on the state's power grid during the extremely cold weather across Texas.

Areas around Houston could receive up to six inches of snow, which would rank among the heaviest snowfalls ever for the city. Winter Storm Warnings stretch as far south as the Rio Grande.