The Lone Star State’s Energy Crisis: What Have We Learned?

The Lone Star State’s Energy Crisis: What Have We Learned??

A few years ago, my family and I survived the Texas blackout crisis—barely. Huddled together in our Houston home, we relied on a solar and battery storage system to keep the heat running just enough to stay above freezing and safe. We were fortunate. Many others weren’t. Estimates are that over 800 people died.?

Adults and children froze to death in their homes. Houses burned because families burned furniture to stay warm. Shelters were overwhelmed, and millions were left without power, water, or communication, for days. All because of years of mismanagement, greed, and ideological resistance to address climate change.?

As we reflect on the lessons of that crisis, the question isn’t?what went wrong—science answers that. The question is:?Why haven’t we done more to fix it??

What Really Happened??

When the Texas grid came within?four minutes?of a total collapse, the cause wasn’t renewable energy, despite what some politicians would have you believe. Here’s the reality:?

• 25 GW of natural gas plants failed?due to frozen pipelines and compressor stations losing power.?

• 6 GW of coal plants failed?due to iced-over coal piles and frozen valves.?

• 1 GW of nuclear power failed?due to frozen systems.?

• Meanwhile,?just 3 GW of wind power?went offline, and solar didn’t produce, per the ERCOT schedule, because it was nighttime.?

The vast majority of the failure came from fossil fuel-based thermal generation. Yet, instead of acknowledging this, some leaders blamed wind turbines and the Green New Deal. This isn’t just misleading—it is dangerous.?

What Have We Learned? (Or Have We?)?

In the years since the blackout, Texas has promised billions in upgrades. But most of those investments have gone toward propping up the same centralized, fossil-fueled infrastructure that failed us. The Texas legislature even passed a Warren Buffet-backed plan to build more fossil gas generation. What we’ve learned—or should have learned—is that this approach doesn’t work.?

Here’s why:?

• Centralized systems are vulnerable to extreme weather, supply chain disruptions, deferred maintenance, and cyberattacks.?

• Relying on fossil fuels means continued exposure to fuel shortages, supply chain disruption, and price volatility.?

• Climate-driven extreme weather will only increase the likelihood of problems with the antiquated fossil systems and future blackouts.?

Without a major shift, Texas risks repeating the same mistakes.?

A Path Forward: Decentralized, Resilient, and Clean?

If Texas truly wants to avoid another catastrophic grid failure, it needs to embrace 21st-century solutions.?

?Expand Distributed Generation:?Solar panels, batteries, and microgrids at the local level can provide reliable, on-demand power. During the blackout, my home solar system kept our family safe—and even fed power back into the grid.?

?Upgrade Grid Infrastructure:?Modernize the grid to withstand extreme weather, hacking, and demand spikes. Additional distributed and centralized energy storage is required to shore up the grid and compensate for inadequate transmission infrastructure.???

?Diversify Energy Sources:?Rapidly expand wind, solar, and battery storage to reduce dependence on centralized fossil fuel plants. The 5 GW of energy storage that has been added to the ERCOT grid since Storm Uri has already contributed to energy cost reductions and reduced emergency calls for conservation. The 16 GW of solar and 10 GW of wind have become critical to ERCOT for increasing reliability and keeping costs in check.?

?Create Real Market Incentives:?Encourage clean energy investment by rewarding reliability and resilience. Put enforcement teeth into the requirements for meeting scheduled energy dispatches..?

What’s at Stake??

The 2021 blackout wasn’t just a crisis—it was a warning. Texas incurred?$129 billion?in damages, more than six times the cost of Hurricane Harvey. But the financial cost pales in comparison to the human toll.?

If we continue down the same path, future crises will be inevitable—and they will be worse. But if we invest in clean, decentralized, and resilient energy systems, we can build a future where:?

• Families don’t freeze or overheat in their homes.?

• Businesses thrive without fear of blackouts.?

• The air we breathe is cleaner, and energy jobs are plentiful.?

• Energy remains affordable and reliable.?

The ERCOT interconnection queue has 140 GW of solar / wind / energy storage, and only 15 GW of fossil gas (and no coal or nuclear). Obstructing the buildout will only hurt Texans and Texas companies. Over-incentivizing fossil generation will not cure any of the above problems, exacerbate climate change, and increase prices.?

What will Texas do??

A Call for Leadership?

The technology is ready. The solutions are known. What Texas needs now is leadership—leaders who prioritize people over ideology, resilience over profits, and action over blame.?

Let’s build a better, safer energy future now—one where no family has to experience what mine did, or worse.?

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