You may have forgotten about this, but back in February, Texas had a slight issue with its power grid. You may not have heard. I don’t know that it grabbed many headlines.
The Texas legislature, which is split on approximately every major issue and now on its third special session, took up rolling blackouts this week.
They sat down some gentlemen from ERCOT, PUC, TDEM, TRC and several other anagrams. In a more hilarious situation, I’d have added a made-up anagram and had you guess which one didn’t exist, but these four look very serious.
Naturally, 7/Eleven came up several times.
“In a world without gas station hot dogs, I think the survivors would envy the dead,” we were all thinking during the blackouts, throwing our hands up toward the heavens.
ERCOT, the operator of the Texas electric grid, fired its president after the blackouts. The interim president and members of the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce helped us get our heads around the concept of “distributed generation.”
“Just one more thing,” San Antonio Democrat Jose Menendez mentioned.
Menendez makes a strong point. Hot dogs from 7/Eleven are convenient. 7/Eleven is a beloved Dallas-based company, but they’re simply not the best gas station hot dogs. We need to ensure we’re prepared in the future so Buc-Ee’s can continue preparing Beaver Nuggets, which is a process I suspect involves nuclear fusion. Loyal Scaiaholics will also recall my concerns about the rolling blackouts cutting off access to breakfast pizza.
ERCOT’s interim president, Brad Jones, says he’s planning a listening tour in October, listing all the cities he’ll visit in a very self-aware manner.
I imagine Johnny Cash would have some pointed thoughts about this, perhaps wondering if Jones had plans to stop at a prison to hear their thoughts.
The Texas legislature, and Texans themselves, are split on every major issue. You might think we’d agree whether the state should have electricity.
You might be a fool.
The chair of the committee, Charles Schwertner, presents a strong point: People want a reliable electric grid, but we also don’t want to have to pay for it.
The head of ERCOT also explained calls for conservation earlier this summer, explaining that wasn’t an emergency, ERCOT was trying to prevent an emergency.
But you can imagine many Texans now develop a nervous tic when they hear calls to conserve energy, perhaps going to the store to buy all the toilet paper just in case.
ERCOT says that was actually part of their plan. They’re now warning people earlier so they don’t get into a bind. They’ve got a list of action, a roadmap, if you will, to prevent rolling blackouts in the future.
“How does politics affect me?” you might ask yourself before deciding to join 86% of Tarrant County voters who did not cast a ballot in the election this spring. Just understand, your legislature is responsible for keeping hot dog rollers rolling in an emergency.
