The February Electrical Power Disaster in Texas: What Can Be Done to Avoid a Repeat

Policy Matters

In mid-February, a cold weather storm swept much of the United States. In Texas, the result was catastrophic, as skyrocketing electrical demand and plummeting supply led to massive, protracted blackouts across the state. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates most of the state’s electrical grid, has received an avalanche of criticism. What is ERCOT? What factors led to the mid-February blackouts? What can ERCOT and the state of Texas do to avoid similar disasters in the future?

This episode has two guests. The first is Dr. Jim Krane, Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies here at the Baker Institute. He has co-written an article for Forbes entitled “Winterization and the Texas Blackout: Fail to Prepare? Prepare to Fail.” Our second guest is Dr. Julie A. Cohn. She is a Nonresident Scholar at our Center for Energy Studies and authored a piece for the Washington Post called “Texas Seceded from the Nation’s Power Grid. Now It’s Paying the Price.” Both articles are available on the Baker Institute website.