Tuesday marks the anniversary of the start of blackouts that cut electricity to more than 11 million Texans in February 2021. More than 5 million people simultaneously did not have electricity at one point, and some lost power for several days.
ERCOT issued its first alert just after midnight on Feb. 15, 2021. ERCOT ordered utility companies to begin rolling outages about an hour later.
"The commission has not, nor has ERCOT, done much to expand structural demand response in terms of who can provide it, how much we can get," said Alison Silverstein, an energy consultant and former adviser to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Texas Public Utility Commission.
She said the grid is in better shape than it was at this time last year, but there is "lots more to do." She said the cold weather earlier this month does not prove the grid could handle more extreme temperatures.
"It was not enough of a stress test to really show the grid is better," Silverstein said. "The grid is better, but it could probably not have survived another 'Uri.'"
"Uri" is the name given to the storm by The Weather Channel.
ERCOT said 99% of power plants in Texas have complied with weatherization plans, but Silverstein said that does not apply to natural gas production and distribution.
"The natural gas system has not been winterized," she said. "This was the single biggest cause of the disaster last year other than cold weather itself."
She said the PUC has been moving demand response earlier, shown by a call for conservation last June. Despite that, Silverstein said ERCOT and the PUC have not done enough to "expand structural demand response." She said the PUC has not conducted "any detailed analysis" of the cost or reliability of steps they are considering.
"The commission has not even begun considering the role of demand in causing the magnitude of the failures here," Silverstein said.
During winter weather the first week of February, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said ERCOT would have 15,000 megawatts of excess power available, even during peak demand.
"ERCOT is well prepared for conditions as they currently stand but remains flexible in order to respond to power and demand needs," he said at the time.
He said power outages during that storm were caused by smaller-scale problems like tree branches falling on lines or ice on power lines.
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