Facing the sudden snowstorm in February this year, the Texas power grid was damaged by freezing, and residents burned wood and built igloos to keep warm.
Starting in June of this year, the state of Texas has caused a shortage of power consumption due to a sudden increase in power consumption.
Because Texas has an independent power grid, this also makes it impossible for Texas to dispatch power across provinces when it encounters power grid problems.(The domestic power grid in the United States is divided into three parts: the Mid-Eastern Power Grid, the Western Power Grid, and the Texas Power Grid.)
At present, mountain fires continue to spread in many places, and high temperatures increase the difficulty of extinguishing fire
On the 10th local time, two wildfires at the junction of California and Nevada merged. Due to strong winds reaching 30 kilometers per hour, the fire spread rapidly. In addition, many wildfires continue to spread in Oregon, Arizona and Idaho.
In order to save electricity, Texas Electric ERCOT started the first round of calls: In order to avoid large-scale power outages, everyone must save electricity. If you are at home during the day, the air conditioner should not be higher than 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and if you sleep at night, set it to 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
The United States is the most developed country in the world, so why does the Texas grid have problems?
According to public data from the U.S. Department of Energy, 70% of transmission lines and transformers in the United States have been in operation for more than 25 years, and 60% of circuit breakers have been in operation for more than 30 years. This has led to the grid system being exposed to extreme weather. Vulnerable.
Faced with a catastrophic power outage in Texas in the severe cold at the beginning of this year, affecting millions of people, people's concerns about the safety of power supply have increased.
In the recent legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed a set of energy grid legislation aimed at preventing power outages in response to a power crisis similar to that in February this year.
The legislation requires power companies to upgrade the capacity of power plants to withstand more extreme weather and establish a statewide emergency alert system. However, these reforms may take several years to be fully implemented.