![]() This makes it harder for ERCOT to buy power from neighboring systems if there isn’t enough available in the state to meet demand. "I think other parts of the system are improving."Ĭohan said another Achilles’ heel of the Texas power grid, in his opinion, is the lack of connections to outside grids. "I think we're still vulnerable to fuel shortages if we were to have a really deep freeze, and that means that there's natural gas power plants that have been improving their own operations (that) might not have enough fuel to burn," Cohan said. WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LIVE AND WORK IN HOUSTON DURING TEXAS’ CRIPPLING 2021 WINTER STORM "Let's say a gas-fired generator has done all the winterization stuff, and it failed in 2021, but if a similar event happened … if it still doesn't have gas, we're still no better off," Baldick said.Ĭohan is equally concerned about the status of the natural gas supply system, noting run-of-the-mill cold snaps have led to a reduction in gas production in Texas’ fuel-rich Permian Basin each time they happen. That is problematic because a little more than half of the power generated in Texas in 2021 came from burning natural gas, according to ERCOT. He said it’s still unclear whether the natural gas system is better prepared. Only three were found lacking.īaldick said he believes electricity providers have taken the lessons learned from the 2021 freeze seriously, and that those systems are in better shape for the next big freeze. Officials at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the agency that manages the state's power grid and mandated the 2021 blackouts, said in January that 99% of power plants and transmission stations in the state were ready for the winter, noting onsite inspections of weatherization efforts at 324 facilities. (Thomas Ryan Allison/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Weathering the next great freeze This was a deadly failure that happened last year."įrozen utility lines in Austin, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. ![]() We didn't take the steps to winterize our power plants and, so hundreds of people died as a consequence - hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning. "We didn't take the steps to winterize our gas supply. "So when this deeper freeze happened in 2021, what had just been some temporary localized blackouts in 2011 became problems statewide for a few days that those blackouts lasted," Cohan said. He said the 2021 freeze was much worse than 2011, but there were valuable lessons that could have been gleaned from the earlier freeze that may have helped prevent last year’s crisis. GREAT TEXAS FREEZE WAS EXTREMELY COLD, BUT FEBRUARY 1899 IN THE PLAINS WAS IN ANOTHER LEAGUEĭaniel Cohan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, has also done research focused on energy policy. So, I don't think I can blame anybody for not being more strident, but with the 20/20 hindsight, you know, we, meaning we as a community, failed to see the writing on the wall and make some requirements." "That's with 20/20 hindsight, right? … I certainly wasn't advocating that 10 years ago. "I think it's fair to say that, in retrospect, we should have paid more attention in 2011 to mandating weatherization," Baldick said. He said some power companies did learn from 2011 and weatherized up to that level. Ross Baldick, an emeritus professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UT Austin, has done research focused on electricity markets and operational systems. ![]() Ten years earlier, the state was plunged into a deep freeze, which also led to a failure of the grid and widespread power outages. Last year’s cold was not the first time Texas has dealt with freezing weather. (MARK FELIX/AFP/AFP via Getty Images) Hindsight is 20/20 Icicles form on a bush in downtown Houston, Texas on February 15, 2021.
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