Examining The California And Texas Power Outages

The electricity systems in a major Democratic state and a major Republican state failed to ensure a reliable power supply during recent extreme weather events. In August 2020, California’s energy demand exceeded the state’s power supply, forcing the grid operator to shed load and temporarily cut off power to customers. Six months later, a winter storm swept Texas, resulting in a days-long power outage and overall energy system failure. All types of generation struggled to perform during both events, making it unclear how the U.S. can best navigate a transition to cleaner energy sources while ensuring system reliability. This research sought to identify steps the nation can take to improve overall electricity grid performance. These grid disasters offer a learning opportunity for the rest of the nation. For this project, I compared and contrasted the California and Texas power outages, subsequent steps the states took following the events, and recommendations issued by various levels of government and the electricity sector. This research involved a literature review of secondary data from primarily government and industry reports. The nation needs to act to ensure greater electric reliability despite worsening weather events. Notably, federal regulators could strengthen existing electric reliability standards and institute similar regulations on the natural gas sector. The U.S. should better coordinate actions between the power and gas sectors as well. Additionally, states should do everything in their power to pave the way for energy storage technologies and other facilities that can help bolster the grid. No major energy source operated exceptionally well during either extreme weather event. A decarbonized power sector will require new technologies