Natural gas' share of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' generation mix slipped in September, but continued to lead energy usage across the state, according to data released Friday by the grid operator.
ERCOT's 2013 Demand and Energy by Month report shows energy consumption across the grid operator's footprint totaled 31.2 million MWh in September, compared with 29.3 million MWh in September 2012, a 6.4% increase.
National Weather Service data shows that Austin, which lies near the center of ERCOT's footprint, had 8% more cooling-degree days this August than normal and 21.5% more than in 2012.
Gas-fired plants provided 44.7% of the power consumed in ERCOT in September, a decrease from 47.6% in August, according to the data.
Coal-fired facilities generated 36.8% of the energy needed in September, up from 35.3% in August.
Nuclear plants provided 11.2% of the electricity consumed in September, up from 10.4% in August.
Wind farms provided 5.5% in September, a gain from the 5.2% in August.
Other sources provided 1.8% of September's energy, up from 1.4% in August.
ERCOT's peak demand in August was 63,388 MW on September 3, a 2.3% decrease compared with peak demand of 64,862 MW that took place on September 5, 2012.