Opinion: No, the Texas power grid is not fixed

By Paul Robbins

Gov. Greg Abbott signed two laws on June 2 to fortify the Texas power system. He proclaimed then that "everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid in Texas." On what planet?

In the land of laws and sausage (two things you never want to see made), the Legislature was tasked to find solutions to the Texas-size electric system collapse that occurred in February. Lawmakers passed some measures but left too much unfinished for anyone to feel comfortable.

Power Plant Resilience: The largest reason for grid failure was that many power plants were not properly weatherized to withstand severe low temperatures. One of the laws Abbott signed now requires this, but there is no official date for when the weatherization must be done. The rules implementing these weatherization requirements will not even be finalized until November.

Thea Clay is shown in February on her fourth day without electricity at her South Austin condo. Millions of Texans lost electricity for days as power plants were not equipped to withstand severe cold weather.

It will also take time and money — by one estimate, $430 million — for weatherization to be completed. The Texas Competitive Power Advocates, which represents power plant owners, is currently haggling with the Public Utility Commission over who should pay for the weatherization, consumers or power plant owners. The group has even stated some power plants may not stay online unless they receive consumer funding.

The only upside is that it is unlikely that a winter storm of the magnitude that occurred in February will reoccur again next year. But if a similar disaster strikes, there is no assurance that Texas will be ready.

Apparently, many Austinites feel the same way. There has been a run on emergency natural gas generators. A public record search revealed that there have been permits for 164 such installations pulled in the first half of 2021, compared to 44 in all of 2020. Almost all of these permits were in wealthy areas of the city.

The electric power grid manager for most of Texas has issued its first conservation alert of the summer, calling on users to dial back energy consumption to avert an emergency. The Energy Reliability Council of Texas issued the alert shortly after midday Monday, saying many forced generation outages and potential record June demand is squeezing the power supply.

Building Efficiency: Another thing that Texas sorely needs to reform is its laggard programs for energy efficiency. A friend of mine survived the winter storm in a newly-built, energy-efficient home without a fireplace. Despite three days without heat, the temperature never went below 47 degrees. While uncomfortable, it was survivable, at least compared to Texans who had icicles on their ceilings.

A 2017 benchmark study by the Electric Power Research Institute estimated that in 2020, Texans would only achieve 11% of their total potential savings from energy efficiency, while 38 states and Washington, DC had higher rates of achievement.

Sadly, building efficiency has become a partisan issue because it is advocated by people who want to lower carbon emissions. But I am having a hard time accepting that freezing to death is part of the Republican platform.

Maximum Charges: The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state's power grid, allows huge electric charges during periods of extreme demand in order to incentivize the building of costly new power plants. These charges can be as high as $2 to $9 per kilowatt-hour, compared to 2 cents to 3 cents per kilowatt-hour during average times.

Unfortunately, neither the Public Utility Commission nor the Legislature has eliminated or decoupled these extreme charges from emergencies such as disastrous weather events. If another severe winter storm were to happen next year, price gouging could happen again.

Repricing: The record-breaking cold spell last February is only surpassed by the record-breaking price gouging that occurred in the energy markets. Estimates of this pillage range widely, but easily approached $16 billion and may be over $46 billion. The Legislature could have ordered a repricing of the market for some or all of these costs, but ultimately did nothing.

Texans who froze last winter deserve more than sound bites to address one of the worst emergencies in the state's history, and the record-shocking economic fallout that followed. Fixing these problems should be the main priority of the next specially called legislative session.

Robbins is an Austin-based environmental activist and consumer advocate who has worked on energy issues for over four decades.