A worker repairs a power line in Austin, Texas, USA, on Wednesday, February 18, 2021.
Thomas Ryan Allison | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Texas Electric Reliability Council, which is known as ERCOT and controls most of the state’s energy, said it plans to exit emergency conditions on Friday as the power has been returned to millions of customers who have been left in the dark .
However, the impacts of the deadly storm are still being felt across Texas.
ERCOT said that energy conservation “is still critical”. Nearly 200,000 customers in the state still lack power, according to the latest data from PowerOutage.us. Utilities officials say limited blackouts are still possible if demand for electricity increases.
At one point on Tuesday, more than four million customers were without power.
Although the heat may be returning, parts of the state’s water supply may now be at risk after water pressure has dropped, leading to potential contamination.
Alison Silverstein, an independent energy consultant and former strategic consultant to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said 20 million or more Texans could be forced to boil water.
ERCOT officials said on Thursday, during a virtual press conference, that the network was “seconds and minutes” from a much worse disaster, given the rate at which the generation was leaving the system. KXAN in Austin reported the comments for the first time. If they hadn’t cut the power when they did, the entire network would have gone down, according to Silverstein.
Winter conditions impacted the production of energy from natural gas, coal, renewable energies and other sources, as well as consumers increased their thermostats amid cold temperatures. The chain was unable to match the dynamics of supply and demand.
Natural gas production across Texas has dropped by about 30%, making it difficult for energy companies to find the gas they need to operate their plants. According to some estimates, up to four million barrels per day of crude oil production have been shut down.
Energy prices initially rose due to production stoppages, but stopped breathing on Thursday with West Texas Intermediate crude and natural gas futures falling.
WTI’s declines continued on Friday, with the contract trading below $ 60 a barrel. Earlier this week, WTI breached $ 60 for the first time since January 2020.
Henry Hub natural gas futures gained 1.95% to trade at $ 3.137 per million British thermal units on Friday. In the week, natural gas rose more than 7%.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott called for an ERCOT investigation.
“The Texas Electric Reliability Council has been anything but reliable for the past 48 hours,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “Many Texans are without power and heating for their homes, as our state faces freezing temperatures and a harsh winter. This is unacceptable.”
Looking ahead, experts say that requiring equipment to be prepared for winter may be among the measures taken to prevent future disasters.
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