The recent severe winter storm in Texas brought bitterly cold weather and caused blackouts, broken water pipes, suffering, and uncertainty. Could something similar happen here?
The good news is that electricity generators and their fuel suppliers in our region are prepared for expected cold weather. In Texas, they apparently calculated that it would be a wise use of resources to concentrate on extreme heat and hurricanes, both of which are frequent and getting worse because of climate change. Texas focused on preparing for heat and not for cold. When the winter storm hit, electricity generation began to fail and could not keep up with demand.
Pennsylvania is also fortunate to have more excess generation capacity and to be part of a large grid system (called PJM) that is connected to the larger national grid. If electricity generation comes up short in a particular spot, it can be supplemented from afar. Texas has minimal connection to other grids.
Read more at the Centre Daily Times.