Millions of Texans remain powerless as the state experiences a massive failure caused by a historic freeze and a power grid that, unlike the other 47 contiguous states, is separate from the rest of the country and not under federal regulatory oversight. This prevents Texas from borrowing power from other states.
The crisis has become a political hotbed in Texas on key issues for its economy, with some of the world’s largest energy companies based in this environment and the environment, with Republican leaders in Texas who insist they do not want to follow the example of California and other democracy-led states and have more widely adopted renewable energy sources.
Earlier in the crisis, the Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT), which manages the state’s power grid, said frozen wind turbines and limited natural gas supply had caused higher power generation outages. normal; since then, additional failures have drastically worsened interruptions. Later, ERCOT officials clarified that the problems of the natural gas system were the main culprits of the distribution challenges.
But that clarification came too late for Abbott, who seized on the phrase “frozen wind turbines” in the original ERCOT statement when he appeared on Fox News Tuesday night and said the failures indicate problems with the adoption of renewable energy sources.
“This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America,” Abbott told right-wing opinion program Sean Hannity, condemning a proposal by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives. which has not become law and has not advanced too far in Congress. “It simply shows that fossil fuel is needed for the state of Texas, as well as for other states, to make sure we can heat our homes in the winter and cool them in the summer.”
But solar and wind power make up only a fraction of Texas ’energy supply, especially in the winter.
“We have a fossil fuel network,” said Michael Webber, a professor of energy resources at the University of Texas at Austin. He said it is “absurd to blame the struggles of the grid” on renewable energies, which make up a relatively small part of the state’s energy supply.
“It’s really a bigger failure of the natural gas system,” Webber said. “That’s the part that really struggled to keep up.”
He said the lack of overwintering affected energy sources in Texas: the bombs froze at a nuclear power plant. Coal piles and equipment froze. Some natural gas plant equipment froze and supply dropped too much. The wind turbines were clogged by ice on their blades. The solar panels were covered in snow.
“The wind works really well in a lot of colder climates where they prepare for it,” Webber said.
Republicans like Abbott “point out a unique tree in a forest and miss the forest,” said Daniel Cohan, a professor of environmental engineering at Rice University. “It’s been a long list of what’s gone wrong in this crisis and really cascading failures.”
“Planners don’t expect wind and solar power to carry most of the hottest hours of summer or the coldest hours of winter,” Cohan said, noting the planning documents of the managers of Texas power grids, which show the state expects to rely much more on natural gas in the winter. Focusing on wind deficiencies rather than natural gas failures, he said, is “deeply misleading.”
Abbott’s comments drew strong criticism from Texas Democrats who accused him of trying to blame himself for the state’s failures.
“It neglected the state’s outdated and deregulated power grid. Now, 4.4 million jeans have no energy in freezing conditions,” Castro said.
However, many Republicans sent a message similar to Abbott’s, blaming renewable energy despite its minimal role in the colossal crisis facing the nation’s second most populous state.
“The Green New Deal has proven unsustainable, as renewable energy is clearly unreliable,” tweeted Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert.
Other Republicans were reluctant to call for regulatory intervention to prevent a similar disaster from happening again, as global warming helps increase the extreme weather.
Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas and secretary of energy for former President Donald Trump, said residents of the state would be willing to endure blackouts to prevent federal regulators from controlling the Texas network.
“Texans would be without electricity for more than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,” Perry is said to say “partly rhetorically” in a blog post on the website of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “Try to make the crisis of the day the one that doesn’t take your eyes off you for having a resilient net that keeps the United States personally, financially, and strategically safe.”
For his part, Abbott has called for reforms of the Texas Electric Reliability Council, the nonprofit organization that manages most of the state’s electricity grid, making it an emergency issue for the session. Texas State Legislature of 2021. He said Tuesday that “it has been anything but reliable for the last 48 hours” and, in local interviews, has called for ERCOT’s leadership to resign.
Meanwhile, Texas Republicans were facing criticism for their mocking comments from California, which faced a similar energy crisis last summer.
“That’s what happens when Democrats are asked. Why liberal climate policies in California are causing power outages,” Texas Gov. Dan Patrick posted on Twitter in August 2020.
“California politicians did this, not the heat,” tweeted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“Biden / Harris / AOC want to make CA’s failed energy policy the standard across the country,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted in August. “I hope you don’t like the air conditioning!”
Cruz, meanwhile, did not try to defend his old tweets.
Some Democrats pointed to these tweets and said Texas Republicans should support other states when faced with crises.
“I hope this teaches Texas politicians to stop falling into other states when they go through disasters,” Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, tweeted. “All Americans deserve the help and empathy of their fellow Americans, regardless of whether it is a blue or red state.”