On the third anniversary of Winter Storm Uri, Representative Greg Cesar (TX-35) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) introduced The Connect the Grid Act. The act would force the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to connect to the national electrical infrastructure and would place ERCOT under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The bill comes off the heels of many Texans beginning to question the reliability of ERCOT to operate under extreme weather conditions. Questions began to rise after Winter Storm Uri in 2021, which left more than 10 million Texans without power and claimed the lives of at least 246 people.
Cesar noted that “we could have kept millions of people out of these mass power outages if we [connected] the grid to the rest of the country. It’s called supporting one another; it’s something we believe in in Texas and it’s something we believe in in the United States of America.”
ERCOT has not only displayed struggles during historic arctic blasts but also during a phenomenon much more common in Texas — sweltering summer temperatures. In August of 2023, ERCOT began asking customers to conserve energy as the grid came dangerously close to implementing rolling blackouts — the same seen during Winter Storm Uri — due to increased energy demand from summer heat.
As extreme weather events — hot or cold — become more frequent, Texans need to be able to rely on access to electricity. In its current state, ERCOT has shown to be less than reliable when it comes to providing electricity to its customers through extreme weather. It is time for Texas to connect its electrical grid to the national interconnections to increase energy reliability during extreme weather events. As Texans, we must advocate our support for The Connect the Grid Act to be passed by our local representatives to ensure reliable and continued access to electricity during extenuating circumstances.
You can find the contact information for your federal representative’s office at https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member.
