Could The Texas Power Grid Fail This Weekend?

This certainly is a reasonable question.

Could The Grid Fail Again?

The answer is, of course, it could. Anything could fail, but it is unlikely it will unless Texas is hit with another unprecedented statewide weather event like Uri in 2021. One would think that preparations would be made so that this type of failure never happens again, but there is always a possibility that the system could be pushed beyond its capabilities.

You Are Being Asked To Conserve

You are being asked to conserve, if it's safe to do so this weekend.  It just seems so odd that when you need it most, is when they want you to use the least. I find it highly doubtful that anyone will heed this request. I'm still of the belief that people are so mad from the last outages that most people laugh at these kinds of requests.

In Fairness

We all found it unconscionable that ERCOT failed during Winter Storm Uri, but we also have to be fair. Quit a bit of the damage and outages from the last winter storm were due to frozen power lines snapping (and/or trees snapping and pulling them down). Yes, there weren't enough crews to make timely repairs, but it's really hard to prep for this type of thing.

Rolling Blackouts

The first thing you'll see if things go sideways is rolling blackouts. There is, in fact, a 16.77 chance of rolling blackouts this Tuesday at 8 a.m. There is an entire chart as to when we might experience outages. This is where I get a little angry at the situation. It's my opinion that if you can predict it, you can fix it.

Always Be Prepared

Always make sure that you and yours have extra blankets nearby. Make sure you bring in your pets. Have a couple of day's worth of food stashed. If you have a fireplace, stock up on wood. If you have a generator, make sure it's operational and has gas. We also tend to forget about it, but having drinkable, unfrozen water is pretty darn important too.