A University of Houston professor has warned that Texas’ energy grid is more vulnerable now than it was during the rolling blackouts induced by Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.
Ed Hirs, an inaugural energy fellow at UH, explained in a report for Forbes that despite spending billions of dollars making changes, Texas has still not fixed its grid.
“In 2002, Texas dispensed with a reliable end-to-end electricity supply chain that the consumer could count on in the heat of summer and cold of winter,” he wrote. “It has been replaced by a 100% government operated grid under which consumers pay more, get less, and no one can be held accountable.”
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas recently projected that there is an 80 percent likelihood of rolling blackouts if a storm the size of Winter Storm Uri were to bombard the state this winter.
Comparatively, Hirs points out that there was only a five percent chance of rolling blackouts during Uri in February 2021.
“A weaker storm—equivalent to 2022’s Winter Storm Elliott—has a 50% probability of triggering rolling blackouts,” he asserts. “And there is no assurance that rolling blackouts can be executed, risking a widescale grid failure.”
Hirs argued that by ERCOT’s own projections, the grid is now less stable than it was three years ago, while Texans are still shouldering the increasing costs of electricity.
“If the ERCOT grid fails again, how will you react to a federal takeover in the name of national security by President Trump?” Hirs asked.
He asserted that of all the states critical to the United States’ economy and national security, Texas is currently at the very top of the list.
Ed Hirs told Texas Scorecard that Texans can take action by calling their state representatives and senators “and have them turn their focus to protecting their constituencies, the voters, and not just looking out for lobbyists and the energy oligarchs who are funding their campaigns.”
Energy Alliance Policy Director Bill Peacock stated that not long ago, Texas had the most competitive electricity market in the world—and that it was no accident that it was the most reliable.
“But over the last decade, federal and state intervention in the market has made it a wholly-owned subsidiary of the government and destroyed its reliability,” he told Texas Scorecard.
Peacock also said that “Federal renewable energy subsidies began to harm the reliability of the grid as far back as 2012. But instead of taking action to counteract the federal subsidies and end Texas subsidies for renewables, Texas politicians decided to subsidize all forms of electric generation, at an average cost to Texans of $17 billion a year since 2021.”
Effectively, the reliability of the state’s electric grid is being outpaced by demand for electricity, which follows Texas’ economic growth.
“If Texas politicians continue their efforts to increase control [over] the Texas grid, neither the grid or the Texas economy is going to fare well,” Peacock concluded.
