Texas News

Texas power grid holds strong but analysts warn it’s vulnerable in a stronger storm

Since a massive winter storm wiped out power to much of Texas in 2021, winter weather often leads to questions about the state’s power grid. But the grid was holding strong Thursday, with plenty of reserve power available, more than 12 hours into a storm that blanketed the DFW area with sleet and snow. Throughout the afternoon Thursday, ERCOT’s grid condition tracker reported about 10,000 megawatts of reserve power, meaning significant excess supply was available to meet the demand despite the cold weather. Any power outages occurring in neighborhoods would be caused by local issues like ice on power lines and not by problems with the statewide grid. Oncor, the Dallas-based company that operates the transmission lines in most of the DFW area, was reporting a small number of outages Thursday afternoon, affecting only about 600-2,000 customers at any given time, out of more than 4 million. In the days leading up to the snow and sleet, ERCOT anticipated that statewide grid conditions would remain normal. The blast of cold hitting the state this week is much lighter than winter storm Uri, the 2021 storm that brought sub-zero temperatures to the state, wreaking havoc on power plants. However, analysts…

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‘School Choice is my top policy priority,’ Lt Gov. Dan Patrick says

Texas Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says private school voucher legislation will be his top priority in the upcoming legislative session. Patrick has reserved Senate Bill 2 for the proposal, which has not yet been authorized. He also said that he hoped Republican Gov. Greg Abbott would declare school choice one of his emergency items for this session. By law, no bills can be passed within the first 60 days of the session unless the governor has deemed them emergency items. “School Choice” is frequently used to describe school vouchers and programs that use taxpayer money to help pay for private schools. “A one-size-fits-all approach to education in a state with a population of 30 million, 254 counties, 1,200 school districts, and over 8,000 campuses simply cannot possibly meet the needs of every student,” Patrick said. The proposal for school choice has been made five times since 2015. The Senate would pass it, but once it reached the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, it would be shut down every time. SCHOOL CHOICE Education May 30 Gov. Abbott says he's got the votes for…