231: Lights Out: What Happened in Texas‪?‬ Congressional Dish

In mid-February 2021, a not-as-rare-as-it-used-to-be winter storm swept across the country, causing massive power outages in the state of Texas with deadly consequences. In this episode, hear the highlights of the congressional investigation into the causes of the extended power outages. They were foreseeable, and in fact foreseen, and similar power outages can be prevented; the only question is whether they will be. Executive Producer: Shelley Stracener Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links to contribute monthly or a lump sum via to support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send payments to: Send payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send payments to: $CongressionalDish or Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Podcast/YouTube Episodes Bad Faith Podcast with Briahna Joy Gray and Virgil Texas.  Articles/Documents Article: , By Bob Sechler, Austin American Statesman, April 6, 2021 Article: , By Kara Norton, PBS, March 25, 2021 Article: , CBS, March 4, 2021 Article: , By Jaclyn Diaz, npr, March 5, 2021 Article: , By Seth Blumsack, The Conversation, February 24, 2021 Article: , By Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine, February 19, 2021 Transcript: , Rev, February 17, 2021 Article: , By Umair Irfan, Vox, February 16, 2021 Article: , The Weather Channel, February 16, 2021 Article: , By Marcy de Luna and Amanda Drane, Houston Chronicle, February 14, 2021 Article: , By Alex Kasprak, Snopes, August 4, 2020 Additional Resources DeSmog , Electric Choice Campaign Finance Summary: , opensecrets.org Sound Clip Sources Hearing: , House Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, March 24, 2021 Witnesses: 2015 -: Mayor of Houston, TX 1989 - 2016: Member of the TX House of Representatives President and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of TX (ERCOT) Testified after being given notice that he would be at the beginning of May Chairman of the Railroad Commission of TX of Environmental Progress Website: "He has helped save nuclear reactors around the world." President and CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) The standard setting body for reliability associated with the electric power industry 1988 - 2002: Principal at McKinsey Transcript: 35:45 Cathy McMorris Rodgers: Recent trends show a transition away from coal and nuclear power plants designed to function as baseload capacity toward variable renewable energy sources with just in time natural gas backup. States like California that rely more on weather dependent renewables experienced energy failures on a regular basis. Indeed, California residents experienced blackouts on an ongoing annual basis as the state fails to manage summer electricity demand and wildfire risk. These events suggest that replacing nuclear plants with variable renewable energy sources could make energy grids less resilient. Policies that drive renewables at the expense of firm baseload put lives at risk. 49:09 Bill Magness: Let me give you a bit of background to explain ERCOT's role in the provision of electric power in Texas. We manage the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers. That's about 90% of the state's electric load and about 75% of the landmass of Texas, ERCOT does not own power plants. We do not own poles and wires. We are the grid operator, like air traffic control for the grid. We're also the settlement agent for the market. We do the bookkeeping and billing, we don't participate in the financial side of our market. Our number one job is to see that supply and demand on the grid are in balance at all times. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and over 680 generating units. It also pe