Flawed proposals would make 'Texans’ power woes even worse': report

Before the winter of 2020/2021, Texas Republicans bragged that the state's power grid was a model of efficiency that thrived because it was liberated from the demands of big government. But in February 2021, Texas suffered a major power grid crisis when the state was hit with unusually cold temperatures and millions of Texans found themselves without heat.

Tucker Carlson, then a Fox News host, blamed Texas' use of green energy — which was misleading because Texas was getting most of its power from fossil fuels. The real problem was that Texas' power grid hadn't been properly winterized.

Journalist Nitish Pahwa, in an article published by Slate on April 27, discusses proposals to fix problems with Texas' troubled power grid — proposals that, according to Pahwa, have major flaws.

READ MORE: Renewable energy is 'bailing out' Texas as surging demand strains power grid: report

"Ever since brutal winter storms blacked out much of Texas and killed hundreds of residents in February 2021, the state's government has constantly talked a big game about bolstering its grid and shielding Texans from future disasters," Pahwa explains. "There is shockingly little to show for it."

The Texas Senate has passed a bill that Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, describes as a "power grid reform package" designed to "make sure that Texans have reliable power under any circumstance." But according to Pahwa, bills being proposed in the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives (both dominated by Republicans) "would actually make Texans' power woes even worse."

Pahwa explains, "These are bills meant to boost fossil fuels and crowd out renewables…. These throughlines suggest that the 'power grid reform' is less concerned with grid protection than with subsidizing Texan gas, whose crippling failures contributed in large part to the 2021 crisis — and which, through the magic of the state's deregulated, regional energy marketplace, is beginning to be crowded out by renewables…. To be clear, renewable power did suffer failures in 2021 as well."

The Slate reporter continues, "All aspects of statewide electricity supply were battered by the storms. Still, as the Texas Tribune has explained, gas was and still is Texas' dominant power source, and 'more than half of the state's natural gas supply shut down' during the storm 'due to power outages, frozen equipment and weather conditions.'"

READ MORE: Former Texas power grid chief says governor ordered him to overcharge for electricity during winter storm

View Slate's full report at this link.