Biden Isn't Handing Power Grid to the CCP
The Claim
President Joe Biden is handing the U.S. power grid to the Chinese Communist Party.
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Emerging story
In late January 2021, Biden suspended former President Donald Trump’s regulation on bulk-power system electrical equipment. Trump’s order aimed to prevent the procurement, importation, installation, and/or transfer of bulk power electric equipment in any property where foreign countries may have an interest.
IER posted an article on February 4 that reviewed this incident and claimed: “For Biden to revoke President Trump’s order means that he is not concerned about potential threats to the U.S. electric grid by China.”
Following this article, a power outage triggered an activist student group in Texas, Students for Trump, to hold Biden responsible for the outage. This group claims he gave China Communist Party access to the U.S power grid.
The claim soon took off on social media.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that energy experts conclude that the power outage may have actually been caused by Texas legislators not taking the proper measures needed to withstand severe winters.
Strong Arctic winds in early 2020 and late 2021 struck Texas, resulting in an energy drop. This energy drop rendered the supply plants inactive, leaving many without power.
Sam Newell, an electricity expert at the Brattle Group, stated, “As the Arctic air and wind hit the state, power plants were unable to withstand the cold and started to disconnect, just as frosty temperatures raised the need for heating.”
Further, there is no evidence of Chinese communist interference in the Texas power supply, nor is there evidence that Biden’s suspension aimed to provide China access to the power grid. Despite the many rumors surrounding the outage, there is no evidence indicating CCP involvement.
Reforming the executive order did not allow the installation of foreign facilities at US power grid stations. It only amended it to allow groups to use foreign resources.
