At that time, the grid that powered nearly the entire state began to fail, forcing energy regulators to roll out blackouts in order to avoid a complete shutdown. In a statement to the Guardian, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot), which operates the state’s electrical grid said it was taking early action to try to head off any outages: “Ercot will deploy all the tools available to us to manage the grid effectively during this winter weather.”īut such statements might not alleviate all fears in a state where the impact of winter storm Uri – which saw at least 246 deaths – is still keenly remembered. State agencies are working together to provide resources & information to keep Texans safe.- Greg Abbott February 1, 2022 Texas is working around the clock to respond to the winter storm expected to impact our state over the next few days. We need new leadership that will work to modernize our grid and prioritize sustainability, not more corrupt politicians who line their pockets with money from special interests.” Rather than working to fix the grid, they let energy lobbyists write their own laws and collected millions in political donations in return. This week, as power began to fail in some Texas homes, it prompted condemnation from prominent local politicians that not enough had been done over the last year to protect Texans’ access to power.įormer presidential candidate Julián Castro told the Guardian: “Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans sold our state’s power grid to the highest bidder, and as a result, five million families lost power and hundreds lost their lives.

Governor Greg Abbott has already caught flak for backtracking on the promise he made just two months ago that power outages would not occur this winter. While this week’s experience will probably not rival the 2021 winter storm that left much of Texas in darkness and was responsible for several hundred deaths, it is a test for the state’s capacity to handle the challenges of more severe weather as a result of the ongoing global climate crisis.

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