More on Texas Winter Storm 2021

According to a new study from the University of Houston, most Texans covered by the state's primary power grid were affected by last month's devastating and deadly winter storm, with nearly 70% of those affected losing power in subfreezing temperatures and nearly half suffering a water outage.

Even though Texans were warned ahead of time to expect short-term, rolling power outages, those who lost power spent an average of 42 hours without it, according to the survey.

The magnitude of the storm's full force has continued to come into view as the revised death toll from the storm reached 111 deaths last week. The storm's destruction could make it the most expensive disaster in Texas history.

According to the agency, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas oversees the state's primary power grid, which serves more than 26 million consumers and constitutes 90 percent of Texas' electric load.

During the storm that blanketed most of the state in snow and ice, more than half of Texans in the ERCOT coverage area had trouble getting bottled water and lost internet service. According to the survey, three-quarters of people had trouble getting food or groceries.

Lucero Marquez, 23, lived in north Austin and said she was fortunate to have power and go to the nearest grocery store for bottled water after losing running water for around 96 hours.

During the week of the hurricane, Marquez told The Texas Tribune, "We have to go through these extra measures to flush our toilet and wash our dishes, but ultimately, we are grateful that we have this scenario." "Unlike many millions of others, we are not freezing and shivering."

Indirectly, the storm put Texans in the ERCOT service area in danger as they tried to stay warm. Despite the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, a quarter of those who lost power from the primary grid relied on their gas ovens or stove cooktops to keep warm, and 8% used an indoor grill or smoker.

Nine percent of those who left their homes to stop the cold remained in their vehicles.

Kirk Watson, founding dean of UH's Hobby School of Public Relations, which conducted the online survey, said, "This was as devastating as we all expected it to be."

The school surveyed people over 18 residing in the ERCOT's 213 counties to reflect the impacted population accurately. It gathered 1,500 responses in mid-March and matched them to a sampling frame that reflected the counties' genders, ages, ethnicities, races, and educational levels.

According to the report, black Texans were "modestly more likely" than white Texans to have lost control.

Watson, a former Democratic state senator, said, "I'm hoping people start realizing that these kinds of incidents are going to happen more regularly." "We need to step away from the rhetoric of stuff like climate change and just concentrate on the truth of what is happening so that people in Texas don't have to shiver in their homes without electricity or water."

The majority of those killed in the storm died from hypothermia, but motor vehicle collisions, "carbon monoxide poisoning, emergency equipment failure, exacerbation of the chronic disease, lack of home oxygen, falls, and fire" all contributed to fatalities, according to Texas health officials.

The University of Houston study also collected public feedback on state policies and officials. ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission, which regulates the grid operator, received just 6% and 10% of the vote, respectively.

Following the storm, several ERCOT board members resigned, and the company's CEO was fired. After the storm, all three PUC board members have left or declared their resignations.

Texas legislators challenged public regulators and energy grid officials in marathon legislative hearings on how power outages occurred and why Texans weren't given more alerts about the risk.

However, policy analysts blamed the power system failure on lawmakers and state officials, claiming that they failed to heed recent storm alerts adequately or account for other severe weather events predicted by climate scientists. Texas, on the other hand, prioritized the free market.

A Texas Senate committee has advanced a bill that would require power and natural gas firms to upgrade their facilities to withstand extreme weather, among other items. In the event of future large-scale power outages, it will also establish a statewide emergency warning system.

The majority of Texans polled by UH agreed that energy facilities should be needed to weatherize their equipment and face PUC inspections. These policies received bipartisan support. According to the UH report, the warning system will benefit 63 percent of Texans in the ERCOT area who rely on neighbors and friends for information.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy executives have been urging Texas lawmakers to approve an $8 billion proposal to construct ten new natural gas power plants to supply energy during peak consumption hours when demand is most robust. Berkshire Hathaway wants legislators to build a revenue source for the business by adding a surcharge to Texans' power bills.

After a severe winter storm struck Texas in 2011 and knocked out electricity, Watson, who served in the state Senate from 2007 to 2020, was involved in legislative discussions regarding extreme winter weather.

"When we asked questions about the winter storm in 2011, we got assurances and guarantees that winterization will be done so anything like that wouldn't happen again," he said. "Those items must, without a doubt, be completed."

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