1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Power Outages in Texas February 17, 2021 The extremely cold weather that is affecting much of the country is causing some states to experience rolling blackouts to avoid a wider collapse of the electric power system. These
2、 weather-related impacts have been particularly acute in Texas. The current situation in Texas has been precipitated by the extreme cold, as noted by the Washington Post: “In the single-digit temperatures, pipelines froze up because there was some moisture in the gas. Pumps slowed. Diesel engines to
3、 power the pumps refused to start. One power plant after another went offline. Even a reactor at one of the states two nuclear plants went dark, hobbled by frozen equipment.” Some wind turbines in Texas were frozen, impacting about 10% of the power generated in Texas during the winter. Texass power
4、outages, many experts argue, are largely a result of policies for electricity independence that the state has pursued for decades. Texas operates its own independent electrical grid, run by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) that serves most of the state. Texas established ERCOT in 19
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