Winter Storm Uri
40 images Created 25 Dec 2023
Power blackouts from Winter Storm Uri blanketed most of Texas – the entire ERCOT region – from February 14 to 20, 2021. Two out of three Texans lost power at some time and nearly half lost water either during the storm or due to pipes freezing. Over 210 Texans died - and storm financial losses are estimated in the range of $100 billion.
To deal with the intense statewide freeze which led to many natural gas generators and pipelines going offline, in addition to icing wind blades and other power interruptions, the state grid operator ERCOT called for rotating blackouts. Due to lack of granularity in distribution circuits, that couldn’t be accomplished due to the number of critical circuits that needed to be keep online for medical and emergency services. Consequently, customers who were rotated off generally stayed off for a considerable time as ERCOT and the grid scrambled to bring plants back online and stabilize.
To deal with the intense statewide freeze which led to many natural gas generators and pipelines going offline, in addition to icing wind blades and other power interruptions, the state grid operator ERCOT called for rotating blackouts. Due to lack of granularity in distribution circuits, that couldn’t be accomplished due to the number of critical circuits that needed to be keep online for medical and emergency services. Consequently, customers who were rotated off generally stayed off for a considerable time as ERCOT and the grid scrambled to bring plants back online and stabilize.
