Texas' Power Crisis Was Also a Gas Crisis
The state’s system increasingly depends on the fossil fuel being available. It’s also increasingly vulnerable to shocks.
Workers repair a power line in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021.
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergTexas’ power crisis was also a gas crisis. The symbiosis of the state’s grid and its pipelines means one can take down the other.
A critical element of the state’s multi-dimensional power crisis was centered on gas-fired generation, by far the largest segment of the state’s fleet to trip offline. That isn’t supposed to happen. Fossil-fuel plants champion their reliability as competition from intermittent renewable power intensifies. Gas, in particular, has been marketed as a cleaner source of energy than coal and one that can work in tandem with wind turbines and solar panels. Quite simply, gas is expected to show up immediately when the call comes in.