Texas grid still no match for winter’s wrath
Batten down the hatches; extreme cold weather is coming to Texas again.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, the operator of Texas’ electricity grid, has said that amid the freezing weather, it “expects to have sufficient supply to meet demand.” But after grid problems caused by Winter Storm Uri left millions of Texans huddled in the cold, the public has learned to take anything grid operators say with a grain of salt.
Yes, the state has made significant improvements to grid reliability since the widespread blackouts of February 2021. Power plants are inspected regularly to ensure they can withstand extreme temperatures. The U.S. Department of Energy gave Texas $60 million (thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) to strengthen grid infrastructure. And more than 20,000 megawatts of new electricity generation (mostly from wind and solar) and battery storage projects have been built since Winter Storm Uri. And the cold snap forecast isn’t expected to be anywhere near as bad as what we experienced during Uri.
So, we’ll probably be OK this time. But ERCOT predicts a 1 in 6 chance of rolling outages if conditions are like those during Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022. And if we have another Uri? We will almost certainly have outages.
As climate change increases the frequency of extreme weather, our grid will be put to the test more often. Add to that skyrocketing demand (from bitcoin mining, AI data centers and the 1 million people who moved to Texas in the last year) and we’re placing significant strain on the grid.
Fortunately, there are solutions that can boost grid reliability, save consumers money and reduce the pollution fueling the climate crisis.
On the supply side, the Express-news has reported that power companies are planning vast amounts of additional clean electricity production. We need to make sure that clean energy capacity gets built. We also need to fend off efforts to add onerous fees, arbitrary permitting standards or the outright bans that have been proposed in the Legislature.
Creating more connections between the Texas and national grid, as proposed with the “Southern Spirit” transmission line, would also help. If this single transmission line had been in place during Uri, 400,000 families would have had power.
We can also do far more to ensure the supply chain for the gas used in power plants is properly weatherized. A federal review of Uri found that “frozen equipment and failures at natural gas wellheads and processing facilities, which led to a breakdown of the gas supply chain” were key factors in the blackouts.
To reduce demand, we can encourage Texans to use new tax credits to buy more efficient appliances and install rooftop solar. We could pay Texans who volunteer to adjust thermostats during periods of peak demand. We can also take advantage of the new Texas Energy Fund, which invests $1.8 billion to help install backup power, including solar panels and batteries, for critical facilities such as hospitals and police stations.
Stay safe and warm out there. Let’s get through this winter storm and then get back to work cleaning up and fixing the grid. If we do, maybe future winter storms can be a chance to get cozy and relax with our loved ones and a hot cocoa rather than worrying about ERCOT.