A jogger trots on a snow-covered road during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Grand Prairie, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
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The Big Story
Interconnection could have stopped Texas blackouts: Study
A new study has found that integrating Texas’s self-contained electrical grid with the broader national grid could prevent mass power outages like those suffered in 2021.
The research, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, modeled the effects of a bill introduced by Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) that would connect the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to the rest of the country.
They found that if such a law had been enacted ahead of the 2021 event, Winter Storm Uri, up to 80 percent of the blackouts caused by the storm could have been averted.
Casar touted the results of the study in a press release.
“This research proves what many Texans know: we didn’t need to lose electricity, money, and so many lives during Winter Storm Uri,” he said.
Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.
Much of the vast fleet of U.S. military bases, coal plants and industrial facilities sits atop a prime resource for clean energy: layers of hot rock deep within the earth.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) will appear in ads touting the Biden administration’s green investments in ads running in their state.
Many Americans are still hesitant of switching to electric vehicles despite the administration’s push to move to climate-friendly cars, according to a new survey.
PHOENIX (AP) — The first heat wave of the season is bringing triple-digit temperatures earlier than usual to much of the U.S. Southwest, where forecasters warned residents Tuesday to brace for dangerously hot conditions.
Senate Republicans are warning New York Judge Juan Merchan not to sentence former President Trump to prison or house arrest or take any other action that could disrupt the likely GOP nominee’s ability to campaign ahead of the November election. Read more
During his first congressional hearing in nearly two years, former chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci picked up where he left off: trading barbs with Republicans over the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
