The new ERCOT CEO wants to rebuild your trust in the Texas electricity grid
Brad Jones expects to present a 100-day plan within a month.
Blue skies and sunshine are seen behind Oncor electric transmission lines as North Texas begins to thaw from winter storms that brought snow and freezing temperatures on Feb. 19, 2021, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)
1:45 PM on May 4, 2021 CDT
This op-ed is part of a series published by The Dallas Morning News Opinion section to explore ideas and policies for strengthening electric reliability. Find the full series here:
One major contributor to the Texas blackouts: inefficient homes
Poorly insulated homes and buildings drew more power from the electricity grid than Texas has ever used, even on its hottest day.
Workers clear debris from a balcony covered in icicles in the Camden Victory Park apartments after a winter storm brought snow and continued freezing temperatures to North Texas. Crews were gutting apartments that were flooded by a broken pipe for fire sprinklers.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)
By Doug Lewin
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The February blackouts gave Texans a clear view of our state’s energy system. Texas legislators still haven’t come to grips with it.
Berkshire Hathaway executive: Our proposal will help prevent future catastrophic blackouts
A regulated set of back-up natural gas-fired generators would insure Texas against future emergencies.
Large electrical transmission lines are pictured in a new housing development in South Arlington, Wednesday, February 17, 2021. Rolling power outages have disrupted service to customers following this weeks snow storm and deep freeze. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)
By Chris Brown
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As one of the state’s largest employers, with more 80,000 Texas associates across companies like BNSF Railway, Star Furniture and McLane grocery and foodservice, Berkshire Hathaway saw and felt deeply the terrible impacts of February’s catastrophic blackouts as they hit our employees and the Texas communities we serve. Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s leadership team immediately made it a priority to find long-term solutions for electric reliability. We put our best and brighte
Geothermal energy can keep the lights on in Texas
This baseload renewable energy is the holy grail of electricity generation.
This photo taken Monday Oct. 28, 2019 shows the geothermal energy company HS Orka in Reykjanes, Iceland.(Egill Bjarnason)
By Will Pettitt
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Texas went through a truly horrifying experience this winter. The state will take months to recover from power and water pipe outages, and the effects of this storm will last for decades. The truly incredible thing? It could have been avoided if Texas was using the heat from within the Earth geothermal energy as a power source.
With weather-related failures in natural gas, nuclear, coal, wind and solar generation as temperatures reached record lows, the state’s power generating capacity dropped by almost 70%, creating a catastrophic energy shortage. This is where geothermal energy could have saved the day.
Natural gas producers hit the jackpot during the power outages, but they failed Texas
The electrical grid is only as reliable as its fuel supply.
A man walks home with a case of drinking water distributed at the Literacy Achieves nonprofit in Vickery Meadows to nearby residents living without water after a winter storm brought snow and continued freezing temperatures to North Texas on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)
By Peter Cramton
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Millions of Texans went without electricity for days in the cold. Winter Storm Uri left 111 dead. Property damage totaled $130 billion. Yet, many natural gas producers reaped tens of billions in windfall profits in four freezing February days.