Last February, a major winter storm in Texas devastated the state and left much of the population without electricity and heat after the power grid failed, but Gov. Greg Abbott said Texans should have no fear this winter, as he made a guarantee to his constituents that they are in good hands.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Abbott promised that the electricity grid will be able to keep up with any pressure caused by a winter storm. This comes after a winter storm that left millions without power last February. Since then the state legislature has passed various bills to alleviate these concerns.
“Listen, very confident about the grid. And I can tell you why, for one: I signed almost a dozen laws that make the power grid more effective," Abbott said when asked about the grid. "I can guarantee the lights will stay on.”
There were some who expressed concerns over potential loopholes in the winterization regulations for energy providers passed by the state legislature, but Abbott said in June after signing the first bill that “everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid in Texas.”
According to a report by KXAN, Abbott spoke personally with natural gas pipeline transmitters, who told him they are conducting behind-the-scenes winterization, and that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is also being proactive.
“I have talked to some of the natural gas pipeline transmitters, and they’ve also have been doing winterization that most people don’t know about,” Abbott told KXAN. “Most importantly is the approach ERCOT has taken this year, unlike last year. Last year they were reactive, and waited until a crisis mode before they summoned more power, more energy; now the way ERCOT works is, they work days in advance in summoning that power to make sure they will have enough power to keep the lights on.”
A poll conducted by the University of Texas at Austin and The Texas Tribune found that of 1,200 registered voters surveyed, only 18% approved of Texas' handling of the energy issues that resulted in blackouts and deaths last winter, while 60% disapproved.
Texas Tribune reported that Jim Henson, the co-director of the poll and head of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, said there is a “lurking uncertainty and doubt” about the electric grid. He said this could create political trouble for Abbott and Republicans, who have been in power in Texas for decades.
“If there’s another even moderate infrastructure problem in the state in the grid, or service delivery writ large, that can be connected with the February outages and the failure of the legislature to respond in a way that people expect it to be effective, it’s a real political problem for incumbents,” Henson said.
According to KXAN, Senate Bills 2 and 3 will require "the weatherization of power generation facilities, natural gas facilities and transmission facilities to handle extreme weather." Failure to weatherize appropriately can lead to fines of up to $1 million.