Great Texas Blackout / Winter Storm Uri [February 2021]

Texas Winter Storm Relief / Recovery

WHAT HAPPENED

  • Valentine's Week Winter Outbreak 2021: Snow, Ice, & Record Cold (U.S. Weather Service)
  • 2021 Texas Power Crisis (Wikipedia)
  • February 13–17, 2021 North American Winter Storm (Wikipedia)
  • Why Texas was not prepared for Winter Storm Uri (PBS NOVA)
  • Why Winter Storm Uri Caused Millions of Power Outages in Texas (The Weather Channel)
  • The Great Texas Blackout Was Caused by a Failure to Ensure Supplies of Natural Gas (Texas Monthly)
  • Who’s Responsible for the Texas Blackouts? Our governor and lawmakers want to blame everyone but themselves for the February blackouts, the latest crisis of their own making."(Texas Monthly)
  • Almost 70% of ERCOT customers lost power during winter storm, study finds (Texas Tribune)

    ELECTRICAL GRIDS

    | Eastern Interconnection | Texas Interconnection | Western Interconnection |

    "The Texas Interconnection is maintained as a separate grid for political, rather than technical reasons, but can also draw some power from other grids using DC ties. By not crossing state lines, the synchronous power grid is in most respects not subject to federal (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) regulation."

    REGULATORS

  • Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
  • Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT)
  • Texas Railroad Commission (TRC)
  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

    GROUNDHOG DAY BLIZZARD 2011

  • Groundhog Day Blizzard (January 31 to February 2, 2011)
  • FERC/NERC Staff Report on the 2011 Southwest Cold Weather Event (August 16, 2011)

    WINTERIZATION

    "The lack of any state, regional or Reliability Standards that directly require generators to perform winterization left winter-readiness dependent on plant or corporate choices." (FROM FERC/NERC Staff Report on 2011 outages, above)

    LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE 2021

    [NOTE: This is a Dallas Morning News Opinion piece, not a factual news piece.]
  • It’s time for Texas to finally retire the Railroad Commission and PUC to create an energy agency (by Chrysta Castañeda, Dallas Morning News, 1:30 AM on 3/7/2021)
  • Texas lawmakers want to prevent another power crisis. But the legislation doesn't go far enough to do that, critics say. (Texas Tribune, 3/30/2021)
  • Preparing For, Preventing, and Responding to Weather Emergencies and Power Outages Texas Senate Bill 3 (TX SB3 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature [LegiScan]) | Senate Bill 3 (TX Legislature Online) |
  • Grant program to provide direct financial assistance to certain residents of this state who were affected by the winter disaster of 2021 Texas House Bill 3460 (TX HB3460 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature [LegiScan]) | House Bill 3460 (TX Legislature Online) |
    LEGISLATION AFTER THE 2011 WINTER STORM
  • Ability of Electric Generators to respond to Abnormal Weather Conditions. Senate Bill 1133 (TX Legislature Online)
    NOTE:Signed into law by governor 6/17/2011, effective immediately.
  • "The state of Texas has provided a starting point for such legislation with SB 1133, which was signed into law on June 17, 2011. This statute incorporates two important components:
    (1) mandatory reporting of emergency operations procedures, and (2) independent review by the PUCT." (FROM FERC/NERC Staff Report, above)

    TEXAS WINTER STORM RELIEF / RECOVERY

  • Texas Severe Winter Storm (EM-3554-TX) [FEMA]
  • Houston Harris County Winter Storm Relief Fund | Winter Storm Uri Consumer Resource Guide (Baker Botts)
  • Winter Weather Recovery Resources (Harris County) | February 2021 Winter Storm Resources (City of Houston Disaster Recovery Information) |
  • Winter Storm Relief (Houston Food Bank) | Winter Storm Recovery Help (United Way of Greater Houston) | Winter Storm: Ways to Help (Harris County Democratic Party) | Mattress Mack's Winter Storm Community Outreach (Gallery Furniture) |
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    Last Modified: 4/18/2021