The anniversary of Winter Storm Uri brought significant anxiety for consumers, advocates, and energy experts—especially with this year’s February cold weather event. With the passage of Senate Bill 2 & Senate Bill 3, the Texas Legislature and the PUCT had the ability to “fix the grid.” However, only electric generation and transmission facilities were required to weatherize their equipment, leaving natural gas facilities vulnerable to extreme weather.
Although an official market redesign blueprint has been adopted, and is currently being analyzed by ERCOT, consumers and energy experts alike argue that there’s another solution to securing reliable and clean energy:
Connecting the Texas electric grid to the Eastern and Western Interconnections.
The U.S. is divided among three Interconnections: the Eastern, Western, and ERCOT. Texas is the only state operating its own interconnection with full regulatory authority and responsibility for generation and transmission. However, with Winter Storm Uri, advocates and energy experts suggest that connecting to the other interconnections could actually be extremely beneficial. Energy researchers argue that there are two main reasons for joining the national grid: to aid in times of power scarcity, and to hasten transitions to cleaner energy.
First, during extreme weather events, rolling blackouts could occur, but with additional power from the interconnections, multiple-day power outages could be avoided. And in return, Texas, one of the most energy-rich states, could aid other states in times of power scarcity as well.
Second, Texas, as the nation’s top producer of wind power, has an abundance of low-cost and large-scale wind generation. Often, Texas generates more power from wind than producers can dispatch. If Texas connected to other interconnections, producers could sell excess power to other states, as suggested by Dr. Michael E. Webber, a renewable energy expert and faculty member at UT Austin. By selling renewable power to consumers in other states, Texas would benefit the climate while increasing profits for producers; jobs for local communities; and revenue to state and local government.
Despite the apparent benefits of connecting to other interconnections, some Texas leaders are hesitant. Some fear that federal regulators will dominate the Texas electric grid once it is part of a multi-state system. Indeed, former Texas Governor Rick Perry stated that Texans would go as far as to endure longer multi-day blackouts if it meant the federal government would “stay out of their business.”
In addition to fearing federal overreach, some Texas leaders feel protective of Texas’ independence. As the largest energy producer in the U.S., Texas has had the luxury of remaining isolated from national energy concerns. As Texans learned during Winter Storm Uri, however, the reality of multi-day blackouts has little to recommend it—especially when the path to higher profits might be the path of collaboration rather than isolation.