One megawatt of electricity is enough to power about 200 homes during periods of peak demand. The ensuing blackouts contributed to hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in property damage.
More: New ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas: 'Continued reliable execution' is goal for Texas power gridĭuring that freeze, ERCOT ordered power providers around the state to cut off consumers - at one point totaling 20,000 megawatts of demand, according to a previous federal analysis - to prevent the grid from failing completely. Greg Abbott, that it is significantly improved.Ĭonsumer demand for electricity on the Texas grid could exceed available generation capacity by 18,100 megawatts under a winter scenario similar to what triggered the 2021 disaster, the report says. According to the document, the ability of the ERCOT grid to handle extreme winter weather along the lines of what hit the state in February 2021 appears to be only marginally better, despite more than 18 months of effort to make the grid more dependable - as well as assurances from state regulators, and from Gov.
