Electric Reliability Council of Texas

Electricity towers against sunset sky with green trees in background.

Energy Reliability on the Ballot in Texas

Texans will decide on November 7 whether to subsidize electricity generation to strengthen the power grid to prevent blackouts, but only with the construction of new natural gas power plants.

November 8, 2023 - The Washington Post

Texas license plate almost entirely covered by snow

Court Denies Lawsuits Over Texas Power Grid Failure

The state’s Supreme Court ruled the non-profit ERCOT can’t be sued for damages caused during blackouts in the 2021 winter storm.

June 27, 2023 - KUT

Texas Wind

Lone Star Grid

The Arctic blast that shut down power to millions of Texas households last week has brought renewed attention to the isolated Texas power grid that prevented the operator from importing out-of-state electricity.

February 24, 2021 - Austin American-Statesman

HEB Grocery Store

Blaming ERCOT

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the nonprofit, independent power grid operator for 90 percent of the nation's second-largest state, has become the convenient fall guy for the epic power failure caused by an extreme weather event.

February 22, 2021 - Austin American-Statesman

Texas Homes

Infrastructure Isn't an Abstract Concept. It's Very Personal

Living in Texas this week has reminded me how dependent we are on infrastructure—and how interdependent these systems are. It's time we started investing in infrastructure as if it really matters to our daily lives.

February 22, 2021 - Bill Fulton via Medium

Polar Vortex

California-Style Rolling Blackouts Come to Texas

As bad as the power outages are in Texas, they would be much worse if the independent energy grid operator hadn't initiated rolling blackouts. In an extensive interview with CBS Austin, Bill Magness, the head of ERCOT, explains what went wrong.

February 18, 2021 - CBS Austin

Texas Wind

Wind Power Sets a New Record in Texas

Texas doesn't do small, so a new wind power regeneration record must be big.

November 17, 2018 - Houston Chronicle

Electricity

Bridging the Divides in the U.S. Electricity Grid

The U.S. power system is split into three separate sections with very little overlap. A more seamless infrastructure could deliver benefit, but a new study, still unpublished, is the first to take on the question of how much benefit.

August 9, 2018 - NREL

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