- Former Texas Governor Rick Perry wrote that Texans prefer blackouts to regulate the power grid.
- Perry served briefly as Secretary of Energy for former President Donald Trump.
- Perry also exaggerated the role of renewable energy sources in blackouts.
- Visit the Insider Business section for more stories.
Texas Republican and former governor Rick Perry wrote a post on the website of minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, making the bold claim that Texans prefer to continue dealing with blackouts than to let the federal government regulate their power grid.
“Texans would be without electricity for more than three days to keep the federal government out of business,” Perry wrote. “Try not to let any crisis of the day take your eyes off having a resilient grid that keeps America safe personally, economically and strategically.”
Perry also briefly served as Secretary of Energy during the term of former President Donald Trump. Perry and current Texas Governor Greg Abbott repeated similar misleading points of discussion about the Green New Deal and the role of renewable energy sources amid blackouts.
“If wind and solar is where we’re going, the last 48 hours should give everyone a real break,” wrote Perry. “We need a base load. And the only way to get a base load in this country is to [with] natural gas, coal and nuclear. “Perry later recognized that the vast majority of Texas energy comes from non-renewable sources.
As a privatized state power grid, the Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT) evaded federal regulation for years.
In an interview on Tuesday with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Abbott said, “the Green New Deal would be a deadly business for the United States of America.”
At a news conference on Wednesday, the first during the 3-day blackout, Abbott said he did not have complete information about when Texans could expect the energy to return.
ERCOT acknowledged that the blackouts largely resulted from failures in the preparation for winter of natural gas, coal and nuclear power systems.
Experts say that as these power systems went virtually offline, the demand for electricity increased during the storm, causing huge failures in the state’s privatized power grid.
ERCOT also said that wind turbines typically account for about 25% of the energy produced in Texas during the winter, with natural energy sources accounting for about half of energy production.
At the end of his blog post, Perry said, “the sun will rise, temperatures will moderate and it will become part of our rear view mirror.”
According to ERCOT, as of Wednesday morning, some 2.7 million homes in Texas were still without power. Another snowstorm is expected until Wednesday night.