Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of news coverage about the situation in Texas. However, it may be hard to make sense of what has been happening. The massive winter storm known as “Uri,” caused some parts of Texas to have temperatures as low as negative 15 degrees. Images of the situation have surfaced, showing how icicles formed in people’s hallway and gas stoves were being used to keep families warm.
The problem is, there are three power grids in the United States. New York and the rest of the East Coast are on one, California and states in the West are on another, and Texas is on its own separate grid. With the extreme weather, the grid was not designed to handle, it buckled under the frigid conditions. As a result, over 500,000 people were left without power. It was not just Texas, some bordering states were left without power as well. There have even been pipe bursts, leaving some residents without water and an increase in carbon-monoxide-related poisoning cases. Those who did not lose power saw a drastic increase in their electric bill, with some being over 10,000 dollars. There has been some debate about the use of alternative power sources, solar and wind for example, which make up 21% of the state’s electricity, however, it was unable to manage during the storm. Because Texas was on its own power grid, it did not fall under federal regulations, regulations which would have resulted in preparation against the coming storm.
While this was all going on, Texas Senator Ted Cruz was spotted leaving the country to head to Mexico with his family. He was criticized for his actions and was seen returning the next day. During an interview he explained that he was traveling with his wife and daughter to Mexico only to drop them off, residents of the state have been critical of this response. Governor Greg Abbot was originally critical of renewable energy’s part in the power crisis but has since issued an investigation into ERCOT. Which is the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which has received a lot of backlash following the storm. ERCOT has recently been exposed as having made a $16 billion price error during the power outages and their CEO Bill Magness was recently fired.
However, there are still some positive takeaways from these events. The state of Texas will likely see an increase in renewable electricity and a reform of ERCOT in the coming years. Families overcharged for their power during the storm should begin to see a decrease in their bills and should be able to avoid paying the extreme prices. The state also banded together with grocery stores giving always free food and supplies to families who were struggling during the outage. One can only hope that these events will at least bring an end to Ted Cruz’s political career.