Texas Power Outages Have Multiple Causes

Misbar has discovered that multiple issues are to blame for the power outages that the state of Texas is presently experiencing. First, is record breaking cold temperatures. According to DallasNews.com, Texas feels like an ice box. For example, Dallas-Fort Worth set a new record low temperature of negative 2 degrees on February 16, marking the coldest day in North Texas in 72 years. 

Another problem for Texas power users is frozen wind turbines. According to Electrek, it is not just because a portion of the wind turbines froze. Wind turbines operate successfully in freezing temperatures in Antarctica and Europe’s North Sea. However, in this case, unusually moist winter conditions in West Texas brought on by last weekend’s freezing rain and historically low temperatures have iced many of those wind turbines to a halt.

But the vast majority of energy the state generates is through natural gas. According to kxan.com, renewables generated 22 percent of the state’s energy, while gas generated 51.8 percent in October 2020. On Monday, frozen instruments and a limited gas supply forced 30,000 megawatts/h of power offline. This was half of what was believed to be needed. Wind turbines account for less than 13 percent of the total generation that was lost. The majority of which was coal and gas.

Texas does not share power with anyone else which also prevents anyone from sharing with them during this time of need. According to Star-Telegram.com, there are three grids in the lower 48 states: the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection — and Texas. The separation of the Texas grid from the rest of the country has its origins in the evolution of electric utilities early last century.

There has also been record demand for power with the colder than normal temperatures. According to the Austin-American Statesman, Texas set a new record power demand of 69,150 megawatts late Sunday. The record is more than 3,200 megawatts higher than the previous record set in 2018.