The Alone Star State: Texas Energy Failure
Allie Leeds' backyard in The Woodlands, Texas, north of Houston, was covered in snow on Feb. 15. The deadly winter storm left her home without power for 20 hours, along with millions of Texans. (Allie Leeds | The Corsair)
I have been staying at my parent’s home just north of Houston since October, due to the pandemic. When Winter Storm Uri hit us on Feb. 15, all of the houses in my neighborhood lost power for just under 20 hours. Without the electric heater functioning, our house dropped to a chilly 47 degrees. My family and pets spent the day huddled together next to the gas fireplace, with countless blankets, multiple layers of clothes, and sheets hung around the doorways to keep the warmth in our living room. Almost every house on our block had pipes burst from the frigid temperatures, including our own.
My experience is just a fraction of what other Texans have lived through. We were lucky enough to get our power back the same night we lost it. We were lucky enough not to be hit by rolling blackouts. We were lucky enough to have a gas fireplace and stove to warm our home and food.
But, what about the millions of Texans who weren’t as lucky as my family and I? Over 4.5 million people were without power on Feb. 15 in my home state, according to The Texas Tribune, and millions more continue to suffer from the after-effects of the storm.
Catastrophic climate events like hurricanes or tornados are not scarce occurrences in Texas. This begs the question of why our leaders were so unprepared for the storm this past week.
While these were record-setting cold temperatures, the big issue came from the state’s isolated power grid and energy resources that were not properly weatherized. Texas’ policies that prioritize profits over people have directly resulted in historical death and destruction.
While most areas in North America get their power from either the Eastern Interconnection or Western Interconnection power grid, Texas sits on its own energy island — the Texas Interconnection. The problem with the state’s isolated power grid is that power can’t be routed from an outside source in times of extreme weather conditions or system failures. About 90% of Texas residents get their power from Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Texas’ state-run power grid, according to their website.
The core issue of this current crisis is the failure of Texas politicians to prioritize upgrading energy infrastructure and properly prepare for future climate events. The idea, perpetuated by Governor Greg Abbott, that frozen wind turbines caused this climate catastrophe doesn't add up — cold-weather states like North Dakota and Minnesota reliably produce wind energy in freezing temperatures because they paid the money to weatherize their energy equipment.
Infographic by Allie Leeds and Johnny Neville | The Corsair
Texas has a long history of anti-federal government energy isolation. “[T]he Texas electric power industry sought to remain clear of federal regulation,” wrote U.S. Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit Judge, Richard D. Cudahy, in a 1995 article in the Natural Resource and Environment Journal. “Freedom from federal regulation was a cherished goal.”
Things in my home state could have gotten much worse. Bill Magness, president and CEO of ERCOT, said in an interview with the Texas Tribune on Feb. 18 press conference that catastrophic system failure “was seconds and minutes [away,] given the amount of generation that was coming off the system…[blackouts] could have occurred for months.”
While we know that this was a deadly, destructive event, a death toll likely won't be known for weeks. The storm and resulting power outages have resulted in the loss of life from automobile accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning from vehicles and portable heaters, fireplace burns, and exposure to the elements. Unsafe driving conditions prohibited Texans from accessing healthcare, medical supplies, and food.
While power outages continued to wreak havoc across the state, a new crisis emerged. On Feb. 19, seven million Texans went without clean water, according to The Weather Channel. Powerless water treatment plants weren't able to properly treat tap water, making it unsafe to use without boiling.
Texas politicians have long criticized California’s energy policies, particularly the Golden State’s push to replace traditional fossil fuels with renewable energy. Texas' refusal to change policies regarding energy and carbon emissions is literally killing its residents. Georgetown, Texas, is a small town north of Austin that uses 100% renewable energy sources. While the policies in Georgetown are a Texan anomaly, hopefully, the town can inspire others to transition away from fossil fuels and aim for a future of renewable energy.
Last fall, California found itself in the midst of a record-setting heatwave. As a response to the spike in demand for energy, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom urged residents to do their part in conserving energy. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz responded by tweeting, “California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity.” This attack has aged horribly, considering Texas’ energy failure six months later.
During the storm, on Feb. 17, Cruz took a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico. If you can get past the irony that a man who voted to use taxpayer dollars on the border wall literally took his family to a different county to give them a better life, this trip was an insult to the millions of Texans worried about their safety during the storm.
A statement he released implied that because of the power outage and school closures, his 12 and 10-year-old daughters begged him to travel to Cancun and, "wanting to be a good dad," he happily accompanied them. Cruz's failure to take responsibility for his own actions or make sensible decisions are alarming qualities in a leader.
Another local politician who kicked the hornet’s nest is former Texas Republican Governor and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry. In an interview posted on Republican House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s blog, Perry is quoted saying, “Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.” The implication that Texans are happily freezing in their homes as a political stand for states' rights is not the truth for millions of my fellow Texans, especially the 5.2 million who voted for Joe Biden last November.
C.J. Godkin, a recent political science graduate of Texas A&M who is currently pursuing a Master’s degree from the school, disagreed with Perry’s assumption, saying, “I think Rick Perry is extremely out of touch with the people in Texas…I think it’s a stupid comment for him to make.”
Not all politicians insulted or deserted Texas this week. Beto O’Rourke, the former Democratic Rep. from El Paso who narrowly lost his 2018 Senate campaign against Cruz, spent the week organizing a virtual phone bank that conducted welfare checks on senior citizens across the state.
New York’s Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez helped raise over $4 million for Texas relief efforts. The nonprofit, BeyGood, belonging to Houston native, Beyoncé, also joined the mission to get Texans back on their feet. The people of Texas are surely keeping tabs on who was and wasn’t there for them during this crisis.
Being both a Texas native and a recent California resident, the difference in responses from these states to the larger issue of climate change is striking. California has made active efforts to combat the acceleration of climate change by requiring all new passenger vehicles sold to be zero-emissions by 2035; transitioning away from fossil fuels; and upgrading its energy infrastructure to protect against climate events like wildfires and rising sea levels.
Drew L. Johnstone, the Senior Sustainability Analyst for the City of Santa Monica, notes, “In 2019, the Clean Power Alliance became the default electricity provider for Santa Monica...Today, about 95% of Santa Monica electricity customers are receiving 100% renewable electricity.”
According to statistics from ERCOT, around 69% of Texas’ energy comes from non-renewable sources; including natural gas, nuclear energy, and coal. The lies about green energy coming from conservative politicians like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, start to make sense when you realize his political campaigns have received tens of millions of dollars from the oil and gas industry.
Between isolating themselves from the national power grids and the avid use of non-renewable energy, Texas politicians have dug us into a hole. It is now their responsibility to get us out. “Texas seems to be subject to a lot of different kinds of weather climate emergencies and disasters. So the idea that we have a power grid that's not able to handle all those is ridiculous,” said Godkin.
If Texas doesn’t make drastic changes in its approach to handling its power grid and shifting towards renewable energy, Texans will continue to be endangered. Events similar to Uri are bound to become more frequent and severe as climate change continues to run its course.
Michael Goldsmith contributed to this article.
