It’s a compelling idea. Still not sure if it’s a good idea, but it is compelling.
If the Texas power grid had been connected to neighboring systems in early 2021, the likelihood of deadly blackouts during Winter Storm Uri would have been reduced up to 82%, according to a new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Their study modeled the February 2021 storm and the likelihood of outages if legislation that would require the Texas power grid to expand interconnections to grids in surrounding states had then been enacted.
The process, which could take a decade or more to complete, has long been opposed by Texas politicians and bureaucrats who say it would bring the state under greater federal oversight. But earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, an Austin Democrat, co-sponsored a bill to do just that.
“MIT’s findings really prove what everyday people in San Antonio and Texas have known for a long time,” Casar said Monday. “We didn’t have to lose so much power, money and lives in Winter Storm Uri.”
Researchers in MIT’s new Climate Policy Center modeled what would happen if Texas got hit by another storm like the one that led to blackouts and hundreds of deaths across Texas — but this time 11 years from now with parts of the “Connect the Grid Act” implemented. In addition to slashing outages, the study showed increasing the number of connections to other grids could bring cost savings and lower emissions.
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The Public Utility Commission of Texas, which oversees ERCOT, said Monday it would be “premature to comment on the proposed legislation” because it could change.
PUC spokesperson Ellie Breed said the ERCOT grid is “more operationally reliable today than it has ever been” due to reforms implemented after the winter storm, including weatherization and backup fuel supply requirements.
“Over the past three years, thanks to these reforms, the ERCOT grid has operated reliably through dozens of daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal and all-time summer and winter demand records without any systemwide disruption in service,” she said.
But [Juan Senga, a researcher with MIT’s new Climate Policy Center] said his modeling shows about 25 gigawatts of interconnection could hit a sweet spot for the Texas market, with positive financial implications, cumulative lower emissions and reduced possibility of blackouts.
At that amount, he said Texas would see a major increase in grid reliability and hit an optimal savings between the costs of transmission and new revenue exporting power. The national grid as a whole would also get cost savings and Texas generators would be able to sell excess energy from wind or solar farms to other states.
The study is here. It’s short but dense and not easy to read. While there is a decent recap of the findings at the end in the “Conclusion” section, a brief executive summary up front would have been nice. Whether this is a good idea or not, there’s a zero percent chance the “Connect the Grid Act” gets passed with this Congress. Maybe in a future Congress, but not now. At least we’ll have more data to assess it by then.
All i know is the northeast deals with rolling black outs WAY MORE OFTEN than we do. i dont want their usage affecting how we live down here. And texas has a ton of huge industry that imo needs its own attention.