TX Storm Review - '21 & '26
- ORGEL
- Jan 27
- 2 min read
In February 2021, Texas and the ERCOT grid were hit with Winter Storm Uri which brought severe freezing temperatures and substantial precipitation, including rain, sleet, snow and ice, and now Texas has passed through another deep freeze this weekend. In 2021, temperatures plunged to -2°F in some areas and killed at least 246 Texans. Electric grid infrastructure was not prepared for an event of this magnitude and length. 75% of the disruptions to service were caused by unplanned generation station outages, fuel issues, with natural gas most severely impacted, and frozen wind turbines. Ultimately, 4.5 million homes and businesses lost electricity and the event caused ERCOT to load shed 20,000 MW to avert total grid collapse.
Failures in the energy system brought substantial scrutiny upon grid operators, generators, and energy companies in the aftermath, but action was taken to address the problems. Legislative action required mandatory weatherization standards for power plants, natural gas facilities, and transmission infrastructure. Capacity additions in the years since Winter Storm Uri include quadrupled solar capacity and a 36% increase in wind generation capacity.
During this most recent storm, the highest chance of a service interruption was going to occur Monday morning when supply exceeded demand by only a few percentage points. The angst was erased though when Monday morning arrived and committed capacity was more than 15% greater than demand. There have been localized impacts in East Texas due to issues with frozen transmissions lines, but wide-spread system-level failures did not occur.
It’s likely that responsive legislative action served to prevent a major catastrophe, although grid stress was lower compared to 2021. Additional capacity from renewables, also played a role by providing alternate sources of supply, especially during daylight hours. Although this storm was neither as severe nor as lengthy, the minimal interruptions to electricity supply exceeded the public’s expectations, and saved lives.
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