Heresy!!! US Rep Greg Cesar Introduces Bill To Connect TX Electrical Grid To National Network

[hatrack]

Electrical grids are vulnerable to climate change, which amplifies intense heat and drought in the summer and intensifies storms in the winter. Nowhere is the problem more pronounced than in Texas, as recent history has shown. Texas has the added challenge of running its own power grid that doesn’t cross state lines and connect extensively to neighboring regional grids—by design, thus enabling the state to evade regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

So it’s been hard for Texas in times of extreme heat or intense storms to come up with the power it needs at times of peak demand when, in the age of climate change, having adequate, reliable power can prevent people from freezing or sweltering to death in their homes.

“Broadening your interconnection reduces your risks and increases your reliability,” said Dennis Wamsted, an energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a nonprofit energy policy research group, who noted the need for building interregional transmission lines. The lines are expensive to build, he said, but interconnection could lower energy costs once the transmission lines are built.

Now, freshman U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a former a labor organizer, Austin City Council standout and rising progressive star in Texas, has introduced legislation that would establish power connections across state borders that he said would prevent climate-related blackouts as well as aid the transition to clean energy and cut electricity bills.

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22032024/texas-bill-power-capacity-regional-grid-federal-oversight/

[pwb]

1. Maybe the National network doesn't want Texas to join?

Tell Abbott's Texas to fuck off or pay a large connection fee for being such independent assholes to begin with.

[Lonestarblue]

2. Abbott and the power industry in Texas do not want the regulations that come with the national grid.

Such regulations include irritating requirements like winterizing equipment so it doesn’t freeze during winter storms, but Texas prefers massive power blackouts where hundreds die as happened in 2021. During very hot summers, rolling blackouts are common, along with please for homeowners to avoid using large appliances during peak hours.

Good luck to Rep. Casar. Unfortunately in a state controlled by wealthy corporations that do not want to invest any profits in safety and reliability, his legislation will get nowhere. At least he has called attention to the problem, though.