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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