Texas governor calls for winterizing power grid

Legislators asked to find way to prioritize, pay for upgrades

AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on Texas legislators to make winterizing the state’s power generators a top concern, saying they must find a way to prioritize and pay for the improvements.

But while the state requires power generators to plan for extreme weather, it offers best practices that serve as guidelines only — not requirements.

Without mandated state standards, Texas does not penalize power plants that are ill-equipped for severe cold. In fact, records show that state utility regulators have issued only three fines related to inadequate weather planning by power generators, The Dallas Morning News found. The fines, which totaled $25,000, were issued for not submitting plans on time — not for failing to properly weatherize equipment.

State utility regulators say generators have incentives to be ready for extreme weather because they lose money for every hour they’re offline. But these incentives are not working, experts said.

The state’s power generation system was ill-prepared for the extreme freeze that hit Texas last week. If lawmakers want to avoid past mistakes, energy experts said, requiring winterization measures may be necessary.

This will be especially important since climate change means deep freezes like this may become more common here, said Varun Rai, a professor and director of the Energy Systems Transformation Research Group at the University of Texas at Austin.

“Winterization of energy infrastructure is like keeping your house prepared for an emergency,” like stockpiling extra food and water, f lashlights and warm clothes, Rai said. “It’s not rocket science or necessarily expensive, and you don’t need it often, but when the time comes, it can be lifesaving for your family and you.”

Last week’s winter storm knocked generators of all types offline, highlighting vulnerabilities across Texas’ entire system. Critical components of the energy supply chain froze, from natural gas wellheads, to power plant equipment and wind turbines, according to officials who manage the grid.

A big winter storm in 2011 similarly brought snow and frigid air that knocked power generators offline and forced rolling blackouts. An inquiry by federal regulators found that many of the problems stemmed from frozen equipment that had not been sufficiently winterized.

In response, the state began tracking how well prepared Texas’ electric grid is for extreme weather. Power generators must submit emergency plans that include details on what they will do in the event of extreme heat or cold.

But power generators are not required to take specific steps to winterize their equipment, like adding de-icing machines on wind turbines or insulating valves and sensors. The state has laid out best practices — including maintaining insulation on vulnerable instruments and properly training staff — but these do not need to be followed. They are simply recommendations.

“Take steps to ensure that winterization supplies and equipment are in place before the winter season, that adequate staffing is in place for cold weather events, and that preventative action in anticipation of such events is taken in a timely manner,” the state’s recommendations read.

And while power generators must file emergency plans, most are confidential; many plants decline to disclose them, citing rules that allow them to withhold trade secrets from competitors. The News reviewed a few plans submitted last year that are not confidential and found a huge gap in how different generators planned for extreme weather.

One power generator, for example, laid out which staff needed to work during a weather emergency and how to evacuate the plant if necessary. But it did not include any specific winterization measures.

Another plant submitted a detailed plan requiring employees to check freeze protection panels and insulation on pipes and sensors. The facility also had a separate, and more detailed, emergency plan if the temperature dipped below 45 degrees and another if it went below 28 degrees.

It’s unclear whether either plant remained online last week. The state has not released a list of which power sources failed and which weathered the storm.