Texas' Grid Held Up This Time With Enough Extra Capacity To Power 3 Million Homes
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Despite near-record electricity demand, the power for most Texans stayed on during this latest winter storm.
For most of the duration of the storm, ERCOT was working with a power capacity cushion of 17,000 megawatts. That's enough extra electricity to power 3 million homes.
"The Texas electric grid is more reliable and more resilient than it's ever been," Governor Greg Abbott said Friday at a news conference.
State officials touted new rules and legislative changes made since last February's storm for the grid's stability.
Compared to a year ago, the Texas grid has 15% more power generation capacity.
Power plants are now required to be winterized. Many plants are also now able to use alternative fuels in cases where natural gas or other fuel supply is curtailed
Improved maintenance schedules have also ensured power generators are not offline for routine maintenance during peak demand.
Officials with ERCOT said there were some instances of reduction in supply natural gas supply during this storm but not enough to impact the grid.
The state's oil and gas industry said it too has winterized facilities in the past year, although, the state has not yet set the rules for the industry.
While many improvements have been made, consumer advocates remain skeptical the state has taken enough action to ensure the grid will hold up during a longer and more severe winter storm.
"We should not get complacent, and we shouldn't allow politicians to mislead us into thinking that they got us through this," said Adrian Shelley, director of the Public Citizen. "The fact is, we've done a little bit to improve the grid but, if we get through this one, it'll be as much due to luck as anything else."
