Texas Power Grid Is Ready For Winter 2024

Anyone living in Texas during February 2021 will remember the debilitating winter storm that brought the Lone Star State to a screeching halt.

What started as a typical cold front with some wintry precipitation quickly turned into a winter event that Texans continue to talk about today. The state was paralyzed for a week after experiencing quite the ice storm across the state along with freezing and sub-zero temperatures for more than a week.

The extreme weather created a strain on the state's power infrastructure. Demand eventually overran the infrastructure, and there wasn't enough to go around. No power resulted in rolling blackouts across the state. Many Texans were left in sub-freezing conditions and without power for days, and according to a report from the Texas Department of State Health Services, more than 200 Texans lost their lives during this particular winter storm in one of the most costly disasters in Texas history. In fact, a lawsuit was filed regarding the 2021 power disruptions.

Read More: Lawsuit Filed Regarding 2021 Power Outage

With Winter 2024 quickly approaching, Texans worry if the power grid will hold up to the demand this year. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) CEO, Pablo Vegas, says Texas electric providers are ready for whatever winter brings this year.

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In 2021 ERCOT came under fire after not being able to keep up with the demand. Since then many changes have taken place at Texas power plants and Vegas tells KVUE that nearly 3000 power plant inspections have been conducted since 2021.

Pablo Vegas is confident that Texas electric providers will be able to keep up with the demand this year, he says,

Since March of this year, we've seen over 10,000 megawatts of new power generation come onto the grid. The majority of that has been in solar power, over 6,000 megawatts of new solar. We've seen over 3,000 megawatts of new battery storage." (KVUE)

He does not expect a need for Texans to be required to conserve energy or a need for rolling blackouts across the state.

In the wake of that winter storm, ERCOT faced scrutiny from Governor Greg Abbott and lawmakers. Sweeping changes have been made at the agency and because of those changes, Texans hope to never have to relive anything like they did in the Winter of 2021 with blackouts, busted pipe,s and freezing temperatures.

If you would like to keep up to date with ERCOT notifications, you can sign up and receive notifications from the Texas Advisory and Notification System, or TXANS.