5 reasons why a federal takeover of Texas’ electric grid will hurt resilience

The people of Texas have long been noted for their independence, and for doing everything just a little bit bigger. One unique distinction which Texas holds is being the only state with its own fully intrastate electric grid, overseen by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Now, some in Washington are trying to break Texas’ independence streak by lassoing the state into the national electric grid, which has its own failures and challenges.

In a press release on Valentines Day, Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) announced the introduction of the “Connect the Grid Act” which would force Texas to submit oversight and management of its own electric grid under the authorities of the federal government, specifically the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). While the release states that by “connecting the ERCOT grid, all Texans and Americans would have more reliable electricity, saving lives in future natural disasters,” nothing could be further from the truth.

Both Greg Casar and his “Connect the Grid Act” co-sponsor Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ran for office as members of the Democratic Socialists for America (DSA), and were supported by the Sunrise Movement, a nation-wide political organizing group created to push the Green New Deal. Both the DSA and Sunrise were extremely active in the aftermath of the February 2021 Texas Ice Storm, demanding that Texas’s grid be subjected to federal regulation and hounding Texas energy companies with disruptive protests.

The truth is, forcing Texas to give up grid independence will do nothing to improve the reliability of Texas residents’ power and would subject them to the same failed resilience standards which are in place nationally. What follows are five reasons why Texas must refuse to give up grid independence and a few steps the Lone Star State could take to genuinely lead the nation in electric grid resilience.

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