Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require Texas' power grid to connect to the nation's major grids, an effort aimed at ensuring the state doesn't see a repeat of a deadly 2021 winter blackout that claimed hundreds of lives.
Rep. Greg Casar of Texas and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced the Connect the Grid Act on Wednesday, three years after Texas' power grid failed during Winter Storm Uri, leaving millions of customers without power for days and resulting in at least 245 deaths.
Casar said by requiring the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to connect to neighboring grids, Texas would be able to avoid similar tragedies in the future. ERCOT serves most of the state's 30 million residents.
"Texans can't afford inaction. Whether we're in the middle of a heat wave or a winter storm, we should be able to keep the lights on, especially as the climate crisis gets worse," Casar said in a statement.
Casar said the legislation would allow Texas to draw power from other states when needed and sell power when there is a surplus. "We can keep the lights on, and make sure that no family is left stranded is a mass power outage again," he said.
The bill would also make sure ERCOT is subject to oversight by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It would also require FERC and the Department of Energy to conduct a study on the benefits of connection with Mexico.
In a statement to Newsweek, an ERCOT spokesperson said: "When looking at proposals to add additional connections from ERCOT to neighboring grids, many factors need to be considered, including transmission costs, reliability and economic impacts, and market-design implications."
The spokesperson added that the Public Utility Commission of Texas "has initiated a proceeding to consider issues relating to interconnections to other regions and ERCOT is actively participating in those proceedings."
The bill would "protect Texans from future climate emergencies, all while improving the electrical grid's reliability, saving billions of dollars, and dedicating $13.5 billion to creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs," Ocasio-Cortez said. "We need to do everything in our power to ensure a preventable tragedy doesn't happen again while simultaneously fighting the climate crisis."
During a press conference, lawmakers took aim at Texas grid operators for profiting off the 2021 storm.
People "died not just because of what happened on a climate level, [but] because of what happened on a structural and leadership level," Ocasio-Cortez said. "It happened because of greed... during the storm, a Texas energy executive even hopped on an investor call and said, quote, this week is like hitting the jackpot with some of these incredible prices. Incredible for who?"
They also slammed Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who went on a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico, during the 2021 storm.
People died because Abbott and his supporters "put profits over people," said Rep. Sylvia Garcia, another Texas Democrat co-sponsoring the legislation.
"Under Greg Abbott's watch, the energy capital of the world was left in the dark. People paid the price," Garcia said. "This bill will improve energy reliability in Texas, save billions of dollars, and allow us to send power to our neighbors in need. It's time for Texas to join the national grid and ensure that while we power America, we keep the lights on at home."
Abbott's office has been contacted for comment via email.
Update 02/15/24 at 11:24 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from an ERCOT spokesperson.
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