In February 2021, Texas experienced an energy crisis caused by freezing temperatures. The winter storm did take down some power lines, which caused small, local blackouts throughout the state. But the crisis was not caused by these small blackouts. The power outages that led to hundreds of deaths across the state were caused by the decision to cut power to some communities in order to prevent a crisis that could have left the entire state in the dark for weeks.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

When the weather got cold, people turned up their heaters. This led to an increase in demand, or energy output from the system. At the same time, natural gas pipelines, windmills, and other energy sources in the state were freezing, preventing the production of additional power to meet that demand. Because Texas has its own power grid run by the nonprofit ERCOT, the state could not borrow supply from other parts of the country. There was simply not enough supply to meet the demand.

INEQUITABLE PATTERNS

When ERCOT realized that there would not be enough energy supply to meet demand, they instructed power companies across the state to shut down power to some homes to prevent a meltdown that would damage the grid. They tried to prevent cutting power to hospitals and other essential services where possible.

Almost immediately, people noticed that the choices the power company was making did not always seem fair. Social media became an important outlet for people to vent their frustration and ask for help. Many families shared emotional footage of their pipes bursting because of the lack of power for heat, destroying their homes as the storm raged on.

Meanwhile, other residents shared images of empty downtown commercial districts with their lights still on. Jared Tennant, a photographer and drone pilot, captured this photo of two adjacent Austin neighborhoods during the crisis, highlighting the disparities.

The example case studies below have been fictionalized based on real experiences of families in Texas in February 2021. Read the example case studies of Family A and Family B, and then consider the questions below:

• How were the experiences of these two families different?

• If everyone loses power for the same amount of time, why do you think the experience is different for people with different social identities, and in different economic circumstances?

FAMILY A

Ana, Carl, Bea, and Karina live in a suburban neighborhood outside Dallas, Texas. Ana (45) is a nurse, and Carl (46) is a data analyst. Bea is 14, in high school, and Karina is 11, and in sixth grade. Carl chose to take the day off from work on February 13th because he had heard on the radio that there might be rolling blackouts. He took the car to the local grocery store and stocked up on food and water. He waited in line and purchased a full tank of gas. He checked the chimney and made sure the flue was open and was clean. He purchased firewood from the local hardware store. Ana got home from work around 6:00 p.m., and the family had Valentine's Day dinner at home and talked about the upcoming storm.

When the family woke up on February 15th, they had lost power. Carl told his family about the possibility of rolling blackouts he had learned about on the radio, and reassured them that the power would be on again soon. Bea and Karina were so excited that they did not have to go to school, because the roads were unsafe for the school bus. Carl started a fire, and they wrapped veggies and sausages in foil and cooked over the fire. It felt like camping! Bea and Karina did their homework until their laptops ran out of power. Ana and Carl kept their cell phones off to preserve battery life.

The family spent most of the afternoon playing in the snow, and warming up by the fire. They had another dinner cooked over the fire. But that night, it started to get really cold. Karina got into bed with her parents around 2:00 a.m. because she was too cold, even in her sleeping bag. That was when Ana and Carl began to get nervous about how cold it was. Ana was worried that it would not be safe for the family to stay in the house if the lights didn’t come back on. But Carl was worried that the roads were too dangerous for them to leave.

In the morning on February 16th, the power was still out. It had been more than 24 hours. Ana called her sister in Oklahoma City and asked to stay. The family had a newer car with good tires and all-wheel drive, so they could drive on the icy roads, even though it was very slow. They pulled the car out of the garage and began to drive north. They were in Oklahoma City by dinner time. Karina and Bea spent the next week playing with their cousins, and then the family headed back home when the storm had passed and the power had come back on.

FAMILY B

Lena, Luisa, and Jonah live in a small house in the outskirts of Dallas, Texas. Lena (45) is a preschool teacher. Her son Jonah (8) was born with a lung condition, and loves to be goofy and cook with his grandmother. Lena’s mother Luisa (68) is a retired teacher, and helps Lena take care of Jonah and cook for the family. On February 13th, Lena got off work and picked Jonah up from school in her small, 15-year-old car. It was starting to get cold, and they heard on the radio that there might be rolling blackouts. Lena thought about Jonah’s nebulizer, which required electricity, and hoped that the outages would not hit them. Just in case, when they got home she took out the battery-powered nebulizer Jonah used when he was a baby, and she made sure it still worked.

Lena stayed awake late into the night worrying about Jonah and Luisa, and about how she would get to work if the roads were icy. At about 2:00 a.m., Lena noticed that the heat had gone off and the clock radio had gone dark. She rushed to Jonah’s room and made sure he was OK. He was huddled under blankets, shivering. She brought him the battery-powered nebulizer and his snowsuit, but Jonah was still cold. Lena woke her mom and they carried Jonah out to the car, and then they huddled in the car together with the heat on until they felt better. Lena wondered how long it would take until the car ran out of gas if they were not moving, and how they would get food. She prayed that the lights would be back by morning.

At about 11:00 a.m., Lena left Jonah napping in the car with Luisa and ran back into the house to get food, wrapping herself in a blanket. There were eggs in the fridge but no electricity to cook them with. She found some chips in the pantry and went to go fill a cup of water, but the sink did not work. The pipes must have been frozen. She took the carton of milk out of the fridge and ran back to the car to Jonah, trying not to slip on the icy sidewalk in her slippers. She poured Jonah a cup of milk, and stashed the carton in the snow next to the car.

Luisa was able to charge her phone in the car. She called her other daughter, Lena’s sister, who lived nearby, and heard that she had also lost power. Lena’s sister wanted to help, but she wasn’t sure she could safely leave the house. Lena and Luisa began to panic in hushed whispers. What would happen when they drank all the milk, when the car ran out of gas, or when the old nebulizer ran out of batteries?

Lena checked social media on her mother’s phone and saw a post about warming centers. There was one at the high school just a couple of miles away. She wondered how they would get there. Jonah could not walk that far in the cold. Lena would have to scrape layers of snow off the car somehow, and she had never driven on roads slick with ice. She wasn’t sure her little car could handle it. But she decided she had to try. It took them almost an hour to get to the high school, but Lena and Jonah were so relieved when they got inside. It was packed, but it was warm, and Lena was able to plug in Jonah’s new nebulizer and her cell phone, and get some bottled water.