AUSTIN, Texas — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced the creation of the Grid Research, Innovation and Transformation (GRIT) initiative this week, a new effort to develop technologies and foster collaboration on the state’s electric grid.

ERCOT described the initiative as a way to bring together experts from industry and academia to strengthen future reliability. “As the ERCOT grid continues to rapidly evolve, we are seeing greater interest from industry and academia to collaborate on new tools and innovative technologies to advance the reliability needs of tomorrow’s energy systems,” said ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas.

Details about how GRIT will operate remain unclear. “The answer is, they’re not really sure just yet. They’re waiting to see what the suggestions are,” said Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston. Hirs pointed to ongoing concerns about investment in Texas energy infrastructure. “I think ERCOT, the Public Utility Commission, and of course the governor who appoints these folks, are acutely aware that they’re losing investment to other states with more reliable electricity,” he said.

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Texas’ demand for power continues to rise. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects demand will grow by 7 percent this year and 14 percent next year. Summer peak demand has steadily increased, climbing from 84.4 gigawatts in 2021 to 92.1 gigawatts this past summer. The increase is driven in part by population growth and the expansion of data centers, though some facilities are capable of producing electricity themselves.

The state’s growing reliance on renewable energy sources at the same time that natural gas plants are retired due to age, also poses challenges. “We’re going to have more wind and more solar and more batteries, and this will lead to more volatility in terms of supply coming on and off the grid,” Hirs said.

ERCOT currently depends on scarcity pricing—allowing prices to spike during periods of high demand—rather than a model based on reliability. According to Hirs, improvements may be incremental. “The innovation is really the optimization, the nibbling around the edges if you will, of trying to make the grid more efficient in the way it distributes electricity to consumers,” he said.