Texas
Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by area and population. The state contains a significant portion of the nation’s energy infrastructure, including major oil refineries, natural gas operations, and electrical generation facilities. Texas’s power grid is managed by ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), 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 across the state for several days. The outage was attributed to a combination of factors including inadequate weatherization of natural gas and power generation infrastructure, unexpected demand surges, and insufficient reserve capacity. The failure resulted in significant economic losses and raised questions about grid reliability and preparedness for extreme weather events.