Texas Faces Rolling Blackouts This Winter
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has raised concerns about potential power blackouts in Texas this winter, particularly if severe weather strikes the state. There’s a projected 14.4 percent chance of controlled outages if Texas faces a storm akin to the 2022 cold snap that left over a million homes without power from December 22 to 25.
These controlled outages might be initiated if temperatures drop below freezing for an extended period. As January progresses, the likelihood of controlled outages could increase to around 16.8 percent, as per ERCOT’s estimations. However, these blackout possibilities are primarily linked to extreme winter storms, with the actual probability of power outages being considerably lower.
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The National Weather Service has indicated a probable onset of El Niño for this winter, a forecast acknowledged by ERCOT. El Niño, triggered by warmer-than-usual Pacific currents, tends to bring cooler temperatures to Texas. In 2022, a storm spread across the country, but Texas bore the brunt with several days of below-freezing temperatures, severely straining the power grid.
In February 2021, another storm led to a massive failure in the power infrastructure, resulting in numerous fatalities and millions of households losing electricity. Fatalities occurred due to hypothermia caused by indoor temperatures dropping to dangerous levels.
The severity prompted President Joe Biden to declare a state of emergency, unlocking federal aid. Subsequently, new protocols were implemented for power plants, incentivizing them to maintain emergency backup supplies. ERCOT also confirmed that the power supply companies under its oversight have weatherized their facilities to ensure continuous generation throughout the year.
Source – https://www.newsweek.com/
