The Texas Power Crisis
By: Emma Ramon
Winter Storm Uri swept the South on February 13th, bringing “one of the most costly natural disasters of the year” according to the director of seasonal forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research. Along with snow, ice, and freezing temperatures, the storm brought extensive power outages to Texas.
Texas was at a particular disadvantage because its electrical grid is separate from the two major grids that provide electricity to the rest of the US (pictured below), leaving them extremely vulnerable after the storm.
The power grid failure left millions without electricity, heat, or water for days. On the 15th, over 4.5 million people were without power. As Texas is the fourth hottest state, Texas homes were not built for the freezing cold. Most are underinsulated, so residents resorted to intense layering and huddling in blankets for warmth. Some attempted to warm up by bringing generators inside or leaving a car running, unfortunately causing over 300 carbon monoxide poisoning cases. As of February 18th, at least 31 people have died.
Could this have been avoided? Rich Glick, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said: “We certainly know how to operate all these different types of technologies and different types of power plants during extreme weather conditions, but we have to prepare for 'em.” He added, “If you don't make the investments today, you're gonna end up costing, not only in terms of a lot of dollars but costing in terms of lives.” After the power outage in 2011 after the Super Bowl, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation generated a report on the costs of “winterizing” gas wells and generators. Winterizing the entirety of Texas’s energy infrastructure was estimated to have cost $1.75 billion, but it never happened, increasing the repercussions of Winter Storm Uri.
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