China News Service, Houston, February 21st, title: How did a winter storm plunge Texas into an energy crisis?
China News Agency reporter Zeng Jingning
February 21st was the seventh day since the winter storm hit Texas, USA.
Although the storm left on the evening of the 19th, the crisis caused by power outages and water cuts in Texas is far from over.
In the post-disaster relief work, Texas currently has to seek help from the federal government, other states, and humanitarian organizations, and millions of people are still struggling for basic living.
As the largest energy producing state in the United States and home to many large global energy companies, Texas has fallen into an energy crisis of this magnitude due to a winter storm, which has raised questions about the state's ability to respond to the crisis.
On February 20, local time, due to a blizzard and extremely cold weather in Texas, USA, water and electricity supplies were in short supply in some areas. Rodney Roberts, who lives in Texas, fetched water from his swimming pool for toilet flushing.
In fact, before the arrival of this winter storm, the Texas government declared a state of emergency in all 254 counties two days in advance, warning residents to prepare.
Many people stocked food and water, wrapped up pipes and valves in their homes, government agencies and non-profit organizations opened large convention centers to accommodate those in need, and the governor dispatched the National Guard for assistance.
All disaster response work seemed to be well prepared. However, when the temperature dropped sharply at 2 am on the 15th and the ice and snow raged, the crisis facing Texas broke out: most of the power grid was frozen and the public water supply system collapsed.
On the evening of the 16th, more than 4 million users were out of power, and people spent at least 48 hours on candles and quilts in cold houses; as of the evening of the 18th, about half of the residents (14 million people) in the state had suffered water cuts. Rainwater was collected outdoors, people lined up in front of the faucet in the park to collect water; the storm left the country on the night of the 19th, supermarket food was out of stock the next day, hardware store water pipes and other accessories were in short supply, and the price of water and electricity repairs soared.
So far, abnormally cold weather has caused at least 35 deaths in Texas.
On February 19, local time, in a supermarket in Houston, Texas, the shelves were emptied by people who came to shop.
Why did a winter storm plunge the US energy hub into such a large-scale crisis?
First, the independent power grid established in Texas is the crux of the crisis that has not been resolved quickly.
The independent power grid in Texas was established in the middle of the last century. It was designed primarily because Texas utilities avoided federal regulation.
It is such an island-like power grid system that, after a large-scale paralysis in the face of the sudden cold wave, was unable to seek assistance from the eastern and western US power grids, resulting in a huge gap in power supply, triggering the Texas Electric Reliability Commission (ERCOT) to adopt Rotating power outages caused millions of people to experience power outages at the same time.
Second, the US energy industry is deeply involved in Texas legislation and government policies.
In 2002, Texas lawmakers lifted control of the state's energy market.
This move gave energy producers room for maneuver, so they saved hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and avoided the construction of cold protection facilities for power generation systems that could have prevented this crisis from happening.
As for how the energy industry affects state legislation and government?
According to the Associated Press, a data from the National Institute of Political Funds in the United States can be seen: of the political contributions of Texas Governor and Republican Abbott, more than $26 million came from the oil and gas industry, more than any other industry’s donations. There are many.
On February 18, local time, people took a rest in the shelter after a power outage in Plano, Texas, USA due to winter weather.
The picture shows a refugee preparing to eat.
Third, this storm caused the failure of Texas' traditional and clean energy power generation equipment. Among them, clean energy power generation has exposed shortcomings: solar and wind power generation cannot ensure sufficient supply in bad weather.
Many climate scientists predict that extreme weather events will increase.
This means that whether clean energy power plants can operate under extreme weather will face major challenges.
Harris County Sheriff Hidalgo told a reporter from China News Agency that it is precisely because of global warming that the increase in extreme weather will make fatal crises more common. As a place where the traditional energy industry is based, Texas needs to carefully consider “how to deal with climate change. "This is a taboo topic in the minds of traditional energy people.
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