‘UPDATE THE GRID’

This energy grid failure is an unmitigated disaster – yet it was tragically foreseeable.

As you may know, Texas is the only state in the country to be entirely dependent on its own energy grid.
In fact, there are only three grids in the continental United States: The Eastern Interconnection, covering
everything east of the Rocky Mountains; the Western Interconnection, for everything west of the Rocky
Mountains; and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, commonly known as ERCOT. Isolated to promote
a competitive power market and avoid federal regulation, ERCOT operates largely disconnected from other
grids – and is, therefore, left alone in the face of crises.

Preliminary reports show that the energy grid in Texas was simply unprepared to operate during this type
of winter storm. This was not a failure of a single type of energy – according to ERCOT, nuclear units, gas
units, solar units, and wind turbines were all equally and severely affected. Winterization efforts have been
put on hold due to high costs and the belief that they wouldn’t be necessary for a climate like Texas’. But
this storm we now face, perhaps unprecedented in our state, is emblematic of a larger trend of extreme
weather events becoming increasingly common around the globe. In my role as Chairwoman of House
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, I have long sounded the warning that a most unfortunate
day like this would come. Climate change poses a real threat to our society, and we must therefore adapt
our focus to prioritize the safety of our people. Texas is no longer immune from this type of weather, and
it is time that our energy systems reflect it.

Our tomorrow will be shaped by the infrastructure choices we make today. As we are collectively
witnessing firsthand the results of inaction on this issue in the past, it is time we make sound policy decisions
to prevent this type of catastrophe from ever happening again. For the last four years, despite my pleas,
infrastructure has taken a back seat to other less important and more partisan issues. The $1.5 trillion
infrastructure bill introduced and passed in the House of Representatives last Congress, the Moving
Forward Act, garnered no support from the White House and was declared dead on arrival in the
Republican-controlled Senate. As the Senior Texan on the U.S. House Committee on Transportation &
Infrastructure, I remain committed to bringing next-generation public infrastructure investments home to
our state.

At some point, the power will be restored. The lights will come back on, heat will begin to flow, and water
will be safe to drink again. But what we cannot bring back is the lives we lost – 30 and counting – as a
direct result of the outages, nor can we erase the suffering of those millions in the cold without essentials
for days. Their deaths were preventable and demonstrate the consequences of a failure in leadership. Steps
now must be taken to ensure that we are not only better prepared to face the next crisis, but also to prevent
it from happening in the first place.

In the meantime, here is a list of resources:
Warming centers: Texas Division of Emergency Management’s website
Food banks: Feeding Texas’ website