Shoring up the grid: What El Paso can teach the rest of Texas
| Austin, Texas
On Valentine鈥檚 Day, every county in Texas went under a winter storm warning. The next day, the lights began to go out. In the days since, millions of Texans have been without power in freezing temperatures.聽Millions are now聽,聽and impassable roads and food scarcity are also a worry across the state.
But for a select few on the fringes of the Lone Star State, the winter storm did not precipitate a larger, longer, emergency. For residents in El Paso, at least 鈥� in the state鈥檚 far western corner 鈥� it鈥檚 meant a few days of building snowmen, staying indoors and off the roads, and learning that the city is on a different electrical grid than most of the rest of the state.
鈥淚 was unaware we were on a different power grid,鈥� says Telma De La Rosa, who has lived in El Paso all her life. She had also, until this week, never heard of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the nonprofit responsible for the isolated grid delivering electricity to about 85% of the state.
Why We Wrote This
Lifestyles and the economy have been growing ever more electrified. As climate change amplifies extremes of weather, a storm鈥檚 fallout in Texas is a lesson in the need for resilience.
In fact, before this week many Texans were unaware they lived in the only state in the contiguous U.S. to have its own electric grid, let alone were pressing to reform it.聽But聽as ERCOT聽聽that the grid will 鈥渂egin to return to more normal operation conditions鈥� today,聽the state鈥檚 unique electricity infrastructure is under intense scrutiny.
It has not been lost on observers that this is happening in the most energy-rich state in the nation. Many experts point to the current shortage as a聽lesson on the need for investments to keep power grids functional. That lesson, they say, is particularly relevant in聽an era of growing weather extremes and lifestyles that are increasingly electrified 鈥� from home and work necessities to next-generation cars.聽
鈥淭exas has been providing a reliable service at a pretty great price,鈥� says James Coleman, an energy law expert at Southern Methodist University. 鈥淏ut now we see they鈥檝e been cutting corners on some things.鈥�
A 鈥渦nique鈥� grid fails
鈥淲interization鈥� of energy infrastructure in Texas, specifically, has been a corner that seems to have been cut. As the state froze this week, so did some of its pipelines, instruments in some power plants, coal piles, natural gas wells, and 鈥� to much news fanfare 鈥� wind turbines. Just as the weather was increasing Texans鈥� demand for power, it was freezing out big chunks of its power supply.
As a result, ERCOT asked utilities to shed power load to avoid uncontrollable blackouts across the state. But this alternative 鈥� rolling blackouts managed by local utilities 鈥� hasn鈥檛 worked either. Instead of 鈥渞olling,鈥� blackouts have been stationary, keeping millions of homes in the dark while sparing others.
Energy infrastructure is a complex beast even when things are working well. For a Texas electrical grid optimized to keep homes cool in the summers, a polar vortex in February was in many ways the worst kind of extreme weather event. The event has exposed flaws in the state鈥檚 market-friendly grid system 鈥� with blame being apportioned from ERCOT to local utilities to fossil and renewable energy sources.
Being connected to other power grids like the rest of the country 鈥� via the Eastern Interconnection and Western Interconnection 鈥� would have made a difference 鈥渁round the edges,鈥� according to Professor Coleman, but given the size of Texas鈥� economy and population, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not insane for it to have its own power grid.鈥�
Having an isolated grid has even been a benefit, such as helping Texas become the leading wind power state in the country. ERCOT鈥檚 鈥渦nique environment鈥� means it can avoid 鈥渢he protracted negotiations and regulatory approvals that often delay transmission projects that cross state lines,鈥� according to聽聽from the Southern Legislative Council.
What has been more damaging this week has been the fact that ERCOT is more market-driven than other grid systems. On the Texas grid, power plants are only paid if they鈥檙e producing energy聽鈥� known as an energy-only market. (Many other grids are 鈥渃apacity鈥� markets, where plants are also paid to be on standby.)聽While that generally keeps prices low because Texans only pay for electricity they鈥檙e using, extreme weather can throw that market out of whack.
Wholesale electricity prices in Texas jumped from around $25 to about $9,000 per megawatt-hour earlier this week. (Griddy, a small Houston-based utility, advised its 29,000 customers this week聽聽to avoid huge bills.)
But the combination of an extremely competitive electricity market and a lack of interstate or federal oversight has meant there鈥檚 been little incentive to invest in hardening or upgrading energy infrastructure in the state.
After a 1989 cold snap, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the agency that oversees ERCOT, had recommended improvements in the winterization of electricity generators. 鈥淭hese recommendations were not mandatory, and over the course of time implementation lapsed,鈥� noted a federal聽聽into a 2011 grid failure. 鈥淢any of the generators that experienced outages in 1989 failed again in 2011.鈥�
And many of the failures witnessed in 2011 repeated again this week 鈥� though it should be noted that some of the failures, like in natural gas production, were out of ERCOT鈥檚 control.
In El Paso, meanwhile, the local utility made $4.5 million聽聽after the 2011 winter. These improvements came at a cost to customers 鈥� as does being part of an interconnected grid system 鈥� but for some locals it鈥檚 now looking like a price worth paying.
鈥淚 hear a lot of people telling me electricity in El Paso is more expensive,鈥� says Jose Enriquez, who worked for the local utility, El Paso Electric, for three years.聽But for places with cheaper rates,聽鈥測ou may be seeing some of the drawbacks to that now.鈥�
Future-proofing
Mr. Enriquez doesn鈥檛 feel an iota of schadenfreude, it needs to be said. He feels heartbroken for fellow Texans forced to find friends, family, or others with power to shelter with, especially given the other disaster that鈥檚 been unfolding in the state.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e in a pandemic. You鈥檙e supposed to be social distancing. But you have to choose the shorter of the straws,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 just feel bad.鈥�
This week has seen various calls for accountability from state officials for a disaster that has so far claimed at least 30 lives around the country.
Gov. Greg Abbott has called for ERCOT鈥檚 entire leadership to resign, and made reform of the corporation an emergency item for the state legislature. Members of the state鈥檚 congressional delegation, in both parties, have sent letters to the corporation demanding answers. In the clearest call for change yet from an elected official, Lyle Larson, a Republican state legislator from San Antonio,聽聽the creation of a聽hybrid market (blending 鈥渆nergy-only鈥� and 鈥渃apacity鈥� elements)聽that connects to other grids.
A full investigation into the grid failures needs to be carried out, experts say, but there鈥檚 little doubt that the crisis has revealed a need for urgent change. Market influences need to be relaxed for the sake of improved reliability and resiliency, both in the short and long term.
鈥淭here were over 4 million Texans without power in cold homes. ... That鈥檚 unacceptable at any cost,鈥� says Joshua Rhodes, a research associate at the University of Texas, Austin, Energy Institute. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to do something.鈥�
Connecting to other grids, for example, is at least worth looking at, experts say. Demand is only going to increase as electrification expands, from homes and buildings to cars and public transit. And access to a broader power supply will help ensure reliability with climate changes expected to bring more extreme and unpredictable temperature changes.
鈥淎n electricity outage is a much more catastrophic problem than it used to be,鈥� says Professor Coleman.
鈥淲hat we considered acceptable for outages 15 years ago aren鈥檛 acceptable anymore,鈥� he adds. 鈥淎nd what we鈥檙e accepting now won鈥檛 be acceptable in 15 years.鈥�
For an example of how it could change, officials may only need to look to their state鈥檚 far western corner. Since 2011, El Paso Electric infrastructure has been able to withstand -10 degree weather, and a dual oil and gas power station built after that cold snap has helped the utility meet the electricity demands of the past week.
鈥淓PE continues to make investments based on lessons learned from that cold snap 10 years ago,鈥� said George De La Torre, a spokesman for the utility, in an email. 鈥淥ur diverse mix of generation and fuel [has] helped ensure a safe and resilient electric grid.鈥�
