The February winter storm that left millions of Texans shivering in the dark was seen as a cannon blast across the decks of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Six ERCOT board members resigned, and Gov. Greg Abbott welcomed their departure.
“When Texans were in desperate need of electricity, ERCOT failed to do its job and Texans were left shivering in their homes without power,” Abbott said in a statement. “ERCOT leadership made assurances that Texas’ power infrastructure was prepared for the winter storm, but those assurances proved to be devastatingly false.”
Winter Storm Uri left more than 100 people dead and had a negative economic impact that approached $300 billion.
The Public Utilities Commission of Texas ordered power plants to weatherize, but although most filed reports by early December, not all did, KHOU reports.
Most troubling was a report from ERCOT that examined five extreme weather scenarios. In four cases, blackouts are still possible.
It’s the latest example of a failure of leadership, according to Energy Alliance Policy Director Bill Peacock, a longtime energy analyst.
“Texas policymakers have simply kept doing the same things that led to the blackouts — made electricity more expensive so that generators will get rich at the expense of consumers,” Peacock told Austin Journal. “The problem is more expensive electricity does not guarantee reliable electricity.”
ERCOT’s Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy for the ERCOT region was released Nov. 19. It said similar to what happened when Uri pounded Texas with bitter cold and high winds Feb. 13-17, there could be another lack of power capacity in extreme conditions.
“There is no planned capacity expected to become operational by the start of the winter season based on the latest developer information,” the report noted. “This is largely due to the new practice of classifying projects approved for grid synchronization as operational rather than planned resources.”
ERCOT spokesman Chris Scheid said these situations are considered highly unlikely.
“As part of our comprehensive planning, we also reviewed a number of low-probability, high-impact scenarios,” Schein said in a statement. “Generators across the state have made improvements in power plant weatherization.”
Earlier this year, Peacock said there are three ways to ensure the grid if reliable. These include eliminating renewable energy subsidies, making renewable generators pay for the costs they impose on the system, and stopping the PUC from manipulating the market. Instead, he said, renewable energy producers remain unreliable for power but all too reliant on precious resources.
Peacock, an opponent of renewable energy sources, said as more wind and solar are added to the grid, the odds of another major energy crisis increase. He said the fact that state officials aren’t doing anything to correct this is maddening. All they are doing is adding to the problem, he argued.
Peacock said Texans need to rely on help from above to ensure the lights stay on.
“If we do not have a power shortage this winter, it will be by the grace of God bringing us a mild winter rather than any steps Texas policymakers have taken,” he told Austin Journal.
Renewable energy sources account for less than one-third of Texas’ energy needs, according to most analysts and studies.
