The Texas Power Crisis

In February, three consecutive winter storms threatened the lives of millions of Texans. Unnaturally cold temperatures in the warm state caused power outages and treacherous, uncleared roads, stranding many people in their homes. The sub-zero temperatures even burst pipes in some residences, flooding homes and forcing many Texans to flee to hotels and to the homes of neighbors and relatives. Experts attributed the crisis to inadequately winterized natural gas equipment, which supplies 80% of Texas’ power. Such an isolated power grid is unique—in 1935, Texas utility companies defied the Federal Power Act, which granted the federal government the ability to transfer energy between most states. As a result, neighboring states could not transfer energy to Texas when its power source failed during the storms.

More than 3.3 million people in Texas alone were affected by the power crisis. Crary Jagger and her family live in Austin, Texas, where residents lost power for nearly four days between February 14th and February 17th. “The entire time, the temperature was below freezing, so [me], [my daughter] Kacie, my son Jack, and my mom would just huddle around the fireplace, and we had the burners on for heat, because we could see our breath in the house,” says Ms. Jagger.

Ms. Jagger’s mother’s house was one of the many that were flooded due to burst frozen pipes during the storm. As a result, she came to live with Ms. Jagger’s family. “It’s definitely been an adjustment,” Kacie says. “[My grandmother] had to deal with moving everything out of her house [and] finding people to deal with it, because, after the storm, tons of pipes burst, people had many things that needed to be repaired, so it was really hard to find a plumber or a handyman.”

Although the Jaggers got their heat and electricity back Wednesday night, their house was still very cold and without safe drinking water. State health agencies released a “boil water notice” that night, warning Texans of the pathogens that may have developed in stagnant water lingering in pipes. Two days later, the Jaggers’ water stopped completely. “But we had heard that that might happen,” Kacie says, “so we filled up the bathtubs the night before, just in case, and then once the water shut off, we would take bowlfuls and boil and use it for whatever.”

Although the Jaggers at least got their electricity back, if not their water, their neighbors weren’t as lucky. “Our neighbors’ transformer [an electrical device that manipulates the level of voltage flowing through power lines] blew in their backyard right when they got power back, so the five of them came and lived with us, as well as their lab, their snake, and their gecko. They stayed with us until Sunday.” Though COVID-19 cases persist in Austin, the February storms temporarily superseded Covid distancing practices.

The power outages also left the Jaggers with no refrigeration, so they “kept all the food cold by putting [it] out in the ice.” Many grocery stores in Texas were forced to shut down due to power outages and some completely ran out of basic goods like eggs and bread. Ms. Jagger says that they were lucky that the storm “happened after Covid,” because they had stockpiled frozen goods due to the pandemic. “We literally went through all of it… We had two freezers full, and we ate all the food to feed everybody.”

One of the neighbors who stayed with Jaggers suffered a compound fracture in his leg while going on a run, and had to stay in a hospital to have surgery. Due to Texas’ unpreparedness for the cold weather, the roads were unsalted and icy, causing the conditions to be hazardous for cars and runners, making it dangerous for people to commute to and from school or work. Kacie Jagger, a 9th grader, was already attending in-person school when the storms hit. Though a couple of her school’s buildings were flooded, students were able to return to in-person classes after only a few days of online school.