The electric grid in Texas, already criticized for its weakness in the 2021 Winter Storm Uri and severe weather the following year relies too much n uatural gas-fired backup generators after blackouts.
It’s the opinion of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) and six regional entities covering 400 million customers. They released a study this week saying gas suppliers and electric utilities should sync their plans to recover from outages.
The freeze left more than 4.5 million people without power, some for days, as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) sought to prevent a grid collapse due to the suspension of an unusually high amount of generation.
“Where feasible, grid operators should incorporate a variety of fuel and non-fuel options into their blackstart system restoration plans,” FERC said in a statement about the study.
Oklahoma faced similar natural gas challenges during the same Winter Storm Uri and as a result, utilities were hit with historic high gas prices which were eventually passed along to consumers. Those prices are the subject of a market manipulation investigation and threat of legal action by Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
A 2021 report on Uri’s impact in Texas showed all 28 of ERCOT’s “blackstart” resources, which can start up without drawing power from the grid, rely on natural gas as their primary fuel, according to a report by Reuters.
“Where feasible, grid operators should incorporate a variety of fuel and non-fuel options into their blackstart system restoration plans,” FERC said in a statement about the study.