Texas
Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population. It contains a significant portion of the nation’s energy infrastructure, including major oil refineries, natural gas operations, and electrical generation facilities. The state’s power grid is managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), an independent system operator responsible for approximately 90% of the state’s electricity load.
2021 Power Grid Outage
In February 2021, Texas experienced a major power grid failure during an extreme winter weather event. Widespread blackouts affected millions of residents and businesses across the state. The outage was attributed to a combination of factors, including the failure of natural gas supply lines and wind turbines due to freezing temperatures, as well as insufficient winterization of power generation equipment. The event resulted in significant economic losses and highlighted vulnerabilities in the state’s energy infrastructure.