As a polar cold wave is about to hit much of Texas, should the residents of the largest state in the United States expect a disaster of the same magnitude as in 2021?
246 deaths last winter
Almost a year ago, a very severe cold snap hit Texas. With polar temperatures for nearly five days, the state’s power grid failed; the consequences of this vast outage were disastrous. 246 people thus died, mostly from hypothermia, when they could not warm up in their own homes.
Other residents accidentally set fire to their homes trying to keep warm with what they had on hand, such as grills or barbecues. Homeowners and businesses suffered an estimated $200 billion in damage from freezing, melting and bursting pipes.
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It is important to know that the Texas electrical grid is independent: the state maintains its own grid which is isolated from that of its neighbours. As explained Ars-Technica, this allows it to better control the generation and transmission of electricity, but it also leaves the state isolated in the event of an emergency. That’s what happened last winter.
Generally, the Texas winter is not really cold, but the temperatures go down compared to the summer which is very hot. Thus, electricity demand is reduced as customers turn off their air conditioners, electricity producers therefore schedule necessary maintenance and upgrades during this period… Last year’s cold snap caught everyone in the dark. lacking, resulting in fatal power outages.
The Texas power grid experienced numerous outages last winter. Photography :
Andrey Metelev / Unsplash
The governor of Texas wants to be reassuring
Following this disaster, the state authorities assured that they had taken the necessary measures to prevent a similar phenomenon in the future. Last December, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott guaranteed that Texans would experience no more blackouts. He further said that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the grid and is responsible for inspecting its facilities, will be proactive rather than reactive this winter. Two weeks ago, the council’s acting chief executive, Brad Jones, assured that ” Texas’ power grid would be more winter ready than ever »
From this Wednesday, February 3 and for three days, a new cold wave will hit the north, center and northeast of the state. Although it will be weaker and shorter than last year, it should put the electricity network to the test with temperatures going below 0 degrees Celsius.
With the announcement of these weather conditions, the Texas authorities were more reserved than a few weeks ago. Greg Abbott has indeed said that a few blackouts could hit the state, although he continues to assert that no incident of the magnitude of last year should occur: “ It could be either ice on the power lines causing a power line to fall, or ice on the trees causing a tree to fall on the power lines and cause the power line to fall. That doesn’t mean the Texas state power grid is in trouble. This means that, for a short time, a particular neighborhood may be without electricity.é”.
America’s infrastructure is aging
The disaster in the southern state last year, although its network is independent, demonstrates the need for updated infrastructure in the United States. The country’s electricity network, like other public facilities such as roads, is indeed very aging.
It is not for nothing that the Biden administration has launched a vast plan worth 1,000 billion dollars to modernize the country… If the Texas electricity network does not hold up once again, critics are likely to strongly fire against the governor of the state, already much criticized last year. For Texans, state officials were content to tend to power companies at taxpayer expense, while leaving power generation facilities at risk from extreme cold.