AUSTIN, Texas — The cold weather in many parts of the state has many Texans wondering if the power grid survives this week. The governor said yes on Tuesday, and so did the people he put in charge of running the grid. 


What You Need To Know

  • PUC officials say power generators are ready for the storm because of winterization after the freeze in 2021 and consumers shouldn’t expect their electricity bills to skyrocket like they did two years ago

  • ERCOT is not expecting emergency conditions for the grid, and they are not planning to ask Texans to conserve energy because they have enough already

  • Officials say Texans might experience local outages because of icing on electric infrastructure. If this happens, check with your local provider

“We have plenty of reserves to make sure that the ERCOT grid is stable and powered throughout this weather event,” said Peter Lake, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

He added power generators are ready for the storm because of winterization after the freeze in 2021. He also said Texas consumers shouldn’t expect their electricity bills to skyrocket like they did two years ago.

“Consumers should not experience anything near those extraordinary prices,” Lake said. “We’ve put in multiple reforms to address that first and foremost, reducing the highest allowable price and ERCOT by almost 50%. In addition to that, we’ve built in a bigger margin of safety by having more reserves available, and by having more reserves available and making the grid more reliable, it reduces prices. And finally, we’re operating the grid with an abundance of caution to make sure that we have more generators available sooner rather than later. And those generators, unlike in Winter Storm URI, those generators are now winterized and hardened against this kind of extreme cold.”

Pablo Vegas, the CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said they’ve been preparing for the winter storm for the past several days. He said they’re not expecting emergency conditions for the grid, and they are not planning to ask Texans to conserve energy because they have enough already.

As for power lines, officials say Texans might experience local outages because of icing on electric infrastructure. But Lake said if this happens, check with your local provider.

At his briefing, Gov. Greg Abbott also reminded Texans about the dangers of black ice.

“Anybody who needs to be out driving needs to be very cautious of the conditions because your eye may not be able to perceive the hazard that’s in front of you,” said Abbott.

Texas officials say they are working with local authorities to get roads cleared and respond to emergencies. DPS Director Steve McCraw said the safest place to be is at home. 

State officials briefed Abbott at the State Operation Center in Austin, a massive underground complex where 14 state agencies are responding to the storm, including the Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM). Nim Kidd, TDEM’s chief, emphasized the dangers of carbon monoxide exposure.

“If you’re going to use a gas burning or wood burning appliance or a generator inside your home, you’ve got to make sure there’s plenty of ventilation there,” he said.

Officials say conditions like this could last through Thursday.

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