In the most energy-rich state in the country, why are millions of Americans without power and heat for days on end amid extreme winter weather? “The people who have fallen short of power are the private power generation companies,” explained Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Oh yes, blame the private energy companies. That are regulated by the government.
The Republican sounds like California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who blamed private utilities for rolling blackouts during a heatwave last summer. Electricity grids must withstand extreme weather. But in both countries, state and federal energy policies have caused market disruptions and reduced grid reliability.
Mr Abbott blamed his state’s extensive power outages on generators freezing early Monday morning, noting “this includes the natural gas and coal generators.” But frigid temperatures and icy conditions have settled in most of the country. Why couldn’t Texas handle them when other states did?
The problem is Texas’s over-reliance on wind power, which has made the grid more vulnerable to bad weather. Half of the wind turbines froze last week, causing the share of wind in electricity to drop from 42% to 8%. Power prices in the wholesale market soared and grid regulators warned of rolling power outages on Friday. Natural gas and coal generators sprang up to close the supply gap, but failed to meet the rising demand for electricity – which half of households depend on for heating – even as many families turn on their gas ovens. Then a number of gas wells and pipelines froze.
In short, there was not enough base load power from coal and nuclear energy to support the grid. Base load power is required to stabilize the grid frequency amid changes in supply and demand. If there is not enough base load power, the grid will become unbalanced and power sources may fail. The more the grid relies on intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, the more base load power is needed to support them.