Will the Texas grid hold up in the freeze? Experts give their confidence scores

The CBS News Texas I-Team asked experts, on a scale 1-10, what their confidence level is in the Texas power grid holding up in the next severe winter storm…

Beth Garza – former independent ERCOT monitor

Confidence level: 7

Garza said another blackout lasting for days, like it did in 2021, is unlikely. But she added that rolling blackouts lasting for minutes, even hours, is not out of the forecast.

“We don’t have enough supply to meet the demand in a situation like we had three years ago,” said Garza, who is now a senior fellow with the R Street’s Energy and Environmental Policy Team.

The former ERCOT monitor said she would feel a lot more confident if the Texas grid was better connected to the Eastern and Western Interconnections. Texas has long resisted connecting to avoid federal oversight but, in an emergency, if Texas was better connected, it could pull outside electricity onto the grid.

“I’m not looking for federal oversight of the electricity system but there are ways to increase ERCOT’s ability to draw on remote resources from outside the region,” she said.