Texas Has Never Had a Summer Blackout — Here’s Why That May Change

Yesterday marked the first official day of summer, and the weather forecast already looks like a nightmare.

ERCOT kicked off the season with its first official energy conservation call this week. As I’ve said, it’s still unlikely that Texas will have blackouts this summer.

But the likelihood is greater than it was this time last summer. And it’s still going to increase each summer going forward, as rising greenhouse gas emissions load the dice and increase the probability of deadly heat waves like this one.

The current heat dome sitting over Texas would be “basically impossible” without climate change. There is absolutely zero doubt in the scientific literature that human caused climate change is making heat waves more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting. 

But see if Governor Abbott, his appointees, and other leaders will even say “climate change” let alone do something about it. But climate change isn’t the tooth fairy — it exists whether or not politicians believe in it. 

Texas is ground zero for climate change. We’ve got it all: heat waves, droughts, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, deadly freezes … the list goes on. It’s time our political leaders, including the political appointees at the PUCT and ERCOT finally deal with the reality.