🐢 It's Wednesday!

☀️ Today's weather: Hot, once again, with the high nearing 100 and the heat index around 105.

♨️ Sounds like: "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals

Today's newsletter is 714 words — a 2.5-minute read.

This heat is putting the electric grid under a real-world stress test.

Why it matters: Successive summer heat waves are forcing utilities in Texas and beyond to rethink how they prepare the grid for longer and more frequent periods of extreme stress — and the AI-driven electricity boom.

The latest: ERCOT broke peak demand records in June, July and August this year.

State of play: Heat waves create a double challenge by increasing electricity demand for air conditioning while reducing the efficiency of some power plants.

Zoom in: Texas has become one of the nation's biggest proving grounds for grid modernization since the deadly 2021 winter storm exposed major weaknesses.

• The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates most of the state's grid, has since handled record seasonal demand with the help of rapid battery expansion, mandatory weatherization, improved forecasting and expanded demand response.

Yes, but: ERCOT officials told state lawmakers that statewide electric demand will reach about 175,000 megawatts by 2032 — almost double the record number that was set last month.

Between the lines: "Texas has been enormously proactive" in building transmission and adding solar, wind and batteries, retired UC Berkeley electrical engineering professor Sascha von Meier tells Axios.

• But rapid growth in electricity demand from AI data centers is creating a new challenge, she says.

Zoom out: A growing number of U.S. utilities are linking home batteries, solar panels and EV chargers through software to virtual power plants that can supply electricity or reduce demand during periods of grid stress.

Houston's August heat isn't letting up.

The big picture: The month has been a bit warmer than normal, and highs are nearing 100 degrees this week, with triple-digit heat indexes expected through the weekend.

What they're saying: "We are skewing a little hotter than normal," National Weather Service meteorologist Cameron Self tells Axios. August is running about 1 degree warmer than normal, and forecasts favor temperatures at or above normal through the end of the month.

Between the lines: Houston's warm nights are also keeping the month's average temperature up.

• Houston's urban heat island and a warm Gulf make it harder for temperatures to drop overnight because they help keep the air warm and humid, Self says.

What we're watching: The National Weather Service issues an advisory when the heat index is expected to reach at least 108. Self says a heat index of 108 is "certainly possible" this month.

Zoom out: July was the hottest month on record for the contiguous U.S., per new federal data dating back to 1895.

Zoom in: July averaged about 1 degree warmer than normal here, with daytime highs only slightly above average.

The bottom line: "Just a little bit above normal in August is very unpleasant for Houston," Self says.

🧑‍🏫 The University of Houston board is considering changes that could give administrators more authority over faculty councils. (Houston Chronicle)

🔊 Bar 5015 in the Third Ward regained its sound permit after a neighborhood dispute over noise. (Click2Houston)

🚰 A water main break in Bellaire yesterday caused an outage that impacted homes and schools. (ABC13)

👋 Shafaq here! It's hot, which means ice cream is the perfect dessert. So I went to reliable Jeni's to try its new flavor collaboration with "Ted Lasso."

Dig in: The Biscuits with the Boss flavor, inspired by the biscuits the soccer coach bakes on the show, features crumbly shortbread cookies in buttery sweet cream.

• The standard order — two half scoops — is $7.
• You can also get the "Ted Lasso Special" — the ice cream flavor topped with fudge and caramel sauces.

My experience: The ice cream is delicious and tastes just how I imagine Ted's biscuits would. The toppings, though, kind of overtook the ice cream flavor. But overall, yum.

The bottom line: Watching "Ted Lasso" extends the summer of soccer.

What's next: New episodes are out today. Check out our Kansas City colleagues' coverage of "Ted Lasso" filming in their city.

Thanks to Bob Gee for editing this newsletter.

⚽️ Shafaq is watching the new episode of "Ted Lasso."