Power experts cite gas constraints as main cause of ERCOT outages, but system planning questions remain
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/power-experts-cite-gas-constraints-as-main-cause-of-ercot-outages-but-syst/595255/As rolling outages continued to plague Texas on Wednesday, power sector experts found themselves fighting against misinformation about the root of the problem.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R, were quick to blame renewable energy, particularly wind, for causing the supply constraints the region has been facing since Sunday evening.
"This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America," Abbott said in an interview on Fox News. "Texas is blessed with multiple sources of energy, such as natural gas and oil and nuclear, as well as solar and wind. But ... our wind and our solar that got shut down ... thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power [on] a statewide basis."
But data from the state's grid operator makes it clear that the majority of outages were caused by gas supply constraints corresponding to a major spike in demand. Though no power resource performed perfectly, power sector experts dismissed the idea that renewables alone were to blame for the outages.
Many questions remain, however, on whether grid operators in Texas were prepared, how generators could have better planned for such extreme weather, how they might in the future and whether future rolling blackouts can be minimized....