Power supply-chain map to aid Texas’ disaster response

Texas has a new map that identifies critical pipelines and facilities needed to keep the power grid stable during winter storms and catastrophes.

Adopted more than 14 months after a winter storm knocked out the state’s power grid and killed hundreds, the Electricity Supply Chain Map identifies power plants as well as natural gas pipelines and facilities that supply fuel to them. State emergency management officials will use the map during weather emergencies and disasters to pinpoint critical electric and natural gas facilities and their emergency contacts.

“Our agencies have collected an enormous amount of critical information in one place, available to state emergency officials with a click of a mouse,” Thomas Gleeson, executive director of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, said in a statement with the Texas Railroad Commission. “That means better coordinated preparedness before a disaster and faster response times in an emergency, to protect the Texas grid.”

The map has more than 65,000 facilities, including electricity generation plants powered by natural gas, electrical substations, natural gas processing plants, underground gas storage facilities, oil and gas well leases, and saltwater disposal wells, according to the statement. It also has more than 21,000 miles of gas transmission pipelines and about 60,000 miles of power transmission lines.

The map is a “living document” that will be updated at least twice a year.

With the map complete, the Railroad Commission, the primary state agency that regulates the oil and natural gas industry, has six months to draft and adopt winterization rules for production sites and related equipment.