USA Today: ‘An electrical island’: Texas has dodged federal regulation for years by having its own power grid

Feb. 17 — The grid has been thrust into the national spotlight as extreme energy demand and overloaded frozen utility plants contributed to widespread power outages across Texas, experts said.

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FOX 4: Oncor defends decisions on who gets power, who doesn’t in North Texas

Feb. 18 — More than 2.6 million people across the state are still without power, and it is not clear when power will be fully restored.

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The Hill: Texas governor limits out-of-state natural gas shipments amid power shortages

Feb. 18 — Gov. Greg Abbott (R) limited out-of-state natural gas shipments as Texas struggles with severe winter weather, low temperatures and widespread power outages.

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S&P Global: ERCOT leaders claim actions averted blackout lasting ‘months’; outages continue

Feb. 17 — Electric Reliability Council Of Texas Inc. representatives said Feb. 17 that the grid operator is still shedding about 13,000 MW of load as workers race to restore power to more than 3 million customers amid below-freezing temperatures.

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Utility Dive: Power experts cite gas constraints as main cause of ERCOT outages, but system planning questions remain

Feb. 18 — “The fact that this was not wind’s fault is not an argument that the wind system as we currently have it would have done better if it were a bigger part of the grid.”

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KHOU 11 — $200K natural gas bill? CenterPoint says it is working on billing error

Feb. 18 — “Customers do not owe this amount, and it will not be drafted from their account,” CenterPoint said in a statement.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram: ERCOT head cites transmission companies as source of power distribution problems

Feb. 18 — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas placed much of the blame on transmission operators this week when Texas Democratic members of Congress demanded an explanation of outages that left millions of Texans without electricity for extended periods of time.

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NPR: No, The Blackouts In Texas Weren’t Caused By Renewables. Here’s What Really Happened

Feb. 18 — This week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appeared on local TV in Dallas and blamed the state’s power crisis on the devastating storm that disrupted power generation and froze natural gas pipelines

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S&P Platts: ERCOT real-time prices near $9,000/MWh in face of winter blast, outages

Feb. 15 — Teal-time prices in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market surged near the systemwide cap of $9,000/MWh the morning of Feb. 15, after doing so for an hour late Feb. 14 and spending almost the entire weekend above $1,000/MWh, as market participants struggled with generation outages resulting in rolling blackouts early on Feb. 15.

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Austin American-Statesman: Frozen wind turbines hamper Texas power output, state’s electric grid operator says

Feb. 14 — As of Sunday morning, those iced turbines comprise 12,000 megawatts of Texas’ installed wind generation capacity, although those West Texas turbines don’t typically spin to their full generation capacity this time of year.

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KHOU: ERCOT asks residents to conserve energy; rolling outages being used as a last resort

Feb. 15 — “With the winter storm pushing up the demand for energy, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday urged residents to conserve.  And on Sunday, ERCOT — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas — echoed that request, saying they may have to take emergency action if the reserve gets too low.

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Houston Chronicle: ‘Energy emergency,’ blackouts possible as frigid temps strain Houston power grid

Feb. 14 — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said in a news release Sunday people should use as little electricity as possible Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The council said it may need to declare an energy emergency and implement rotating outages as a way to balance out surging demand and limited supply.

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Utility Dive: Texas grid operator braces for record electric demand, warns generators to prepare

Feb. 15 — The November SARA report identified almost 83,000 MW of resource capacity that ERCOT expected to be available to meet winter peak. But Texas is experiencing a stretch of cold temperatures that is expected to culminate next week, and the grid operator wants to be prepared

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KUT NPR: Environmental And Industry Groups Agree Natural Gas Flaring Should Stop.

Feb. 12 — Dallas Rep. Jessica Gonzalez’s bill proposes a tax of 7.5% of market value on flared gas. Another bill by Austin Rep. Vicki Goodwin proposes a 25% tax, with revenue going toward schools, roads and the state’s rainy day fund. Mekelburg says that bill is meant to be a deterrent, especially as drilling picks back up after a big pandemic slump.

 

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