Did Texas Legislature do enough to keep electricity flowing as the summer heat nears?
When it comes to what the Legislature did to fix Texas’ electrical grid, there are myriad issues. But all most people want to know is: Did they make sure my power will stay on?
The short answer is: not entirely. Lawmakers approved improvements that will stabilize the system, but it will take time. Outages in an especially hot summer or another crazy cold snap next winter remain quite possible.
Longer-term, there are threats beyond weather that the state must deal with, too. Keeping the lights on in Texas could be a years-long challenge.
That’s not to say the Legislature did nothing. If Gov. Greg Abbott signs the bills sent to him, the state will require power plants and some natural gas facilities to install winter-weather protections. Critical gas suppliers that feed power plants will have to register so that in a crisis, they aren’t shut off.
And lawmakers addressed the governance issue with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to make sure elected officials have more oversight and expanded the Public Utility Commission. They’ve created statewide power-outage alerts.
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The state also will issue bonds to help energy providers who racked up huge debts during February’s week-long disaster. Those bonds will be repaid through surcharges on customers’ bills for years.
In other words, it’s a bailout. Nobody likes the idea, but it’s necessary to keep enough providers in business to supply what the state needs. It’s maddening, but Texans were always going to pay the price for the failures of February, either through tax money, higher electric bills or both.
The bailout should have been paired with more direct help for consumers, though. The storm cost some thousands of dollars or more for hotels, wasted food and damage from burst pipes. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick floated a plan for a rebate to power customers, but it, too, would have relied on bonds ultimately repaid by taxpayers.
SUMMER POWER OUTAGES?
Weatherization will take time, so it’s unclear how much protection Texans will have if another freeze hits in the coming winter. More immediately, we face the annual slog of summer, and a key electric reliability monitor has already warned that outages may come.
We’re nowhere close to solving our long-term capacity issues. The state continues to boom — Fort Worth just moved up to the 12th-largest city in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And there could soon be another factor at work: electric cars.
So far, fully electric cars have been prohibitively expensive for most people. But the technology continues to develop, and we’ll soon see a tipping point toward them. Ford’s impressive new electric F-150 pickup is just the first of the bigger (and eventually cheaper) vehicles that many Texans prefer.
All those batteries will need juice from somewhere. It’s not necessarily a huge factor in the overall energy picture, but it demonstrates that Texas’ need for reliable, affordable electricity will only increase. Our policymakers must think beyond the next heat wave or winter storm. What’s the plan to ensure a booming Texas has the power it needs?
DANGER FROM HACKERS
Another key factor is protecting the infrastructure that generates and delivers that power. In recent weeks, we’ve seen that hackers can gain access to important facilities such as a major gasoline pipeline and meatpacking plants. Such attacks so far are limited to “ransomware,” seeking cash, but eventually, a terrorist operation or hostile foreign power could aim to cripple vital American services. The federal government, states and businesses need to take steps immediately to harden vital targets.
The Legislature’s steps so far are welcome, but they are far from enough. Much work remains to be done to keep electricity flowing, protect Texas’ economic growth and prevent a disaster, whether natural or man-made.
Texas lawmakers have a bad habit of responding to a crisis with a few measures, declaring the problem fixed and waiting for major trouble. Let’s hope this time, with lives and fortunes on the line, they closely monitor weatherization progress and dive deeply into the state’s long-term needs.