The Lone Star State prides itself on its rugged individualism: "We don't need help from anybody...." Well, sometimes you do--and it's much better to be prepared for those times than not.
Decades ago, to avoid federal regulation, Texas decided not to connect its power grid with those of neighboring states in a cooperative arrangement, as literally every other state in the union has done. (Hawaii is the obvious exception, but even Alaska has tied its grid with the Canadian system.) But exempting itself from the regulations that come with interstate commerce, Texas also exempted itself from the ones that demand generation and distribution facilities be able to withstand extreme weather conditions--so its power companies didn't bother. Why not? It's cheaper not to insulate and winterize your fuel lines, right, and how often does Texas get temperatures well below freezing, anyway?
Well, based on this chart, of days when Dallas hit extreme temperature, more often than you'd think
| 32 °F 0 °C |
Year | 70 °F 21 °C |
90 °F 32 °C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 2020 | 261 | 108 |
| 19 | 2019 | 244 | 118 |
| 26 | 2018 | 244 | 125 |
| 8 | 2017 | 287 | 111 |
| 16 | 2016 | 277 | 114 |
| 25 | 2015 | 262 | 120 |
| 36 | 2014 | 243 | 100 |
| 29 | 2013 | 257 | 119 |
| 17 | 2012 | 278 | 121 |
| 27 | 2011 | 258 | 131 |
Wouldn't you think you'd want to be prepared for something that can happen as often as 20 or 30 times each year? (And that's just Dallas--other parts of the state, such as the Panhandle and the western hill country, can get much colder more often.)
Oh, and naturally, if you've refused to cooperate with your neighbors under normal circumstances, don't be surprised when they are not quick to offer assistance in an emergency. Normally, in this kind of crisis, we'd be seeing news reports of electric crews from other states--as far away as New York or California--coming to help get the power up and running in the affected area. Haven't seen any stories like that this week. I wonder why.
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