Powerless in the Heat: Texas’ Failing Grid and Republican Negligence
How partisan politics leave Texans in the dark and sweltering heat.
While Hurricane Beryl hit Texas as a Category One on Monday, currently, 1.2 million Texans are still without power, and there is no word about when it will come back on. It matters a lot since the Harris County area is under a heat advisory, and temperatures this week have been over 100°.
Yesterday, Spectrum customers in the San Antonio and South Texas area had their phones and internet down for the entire day. Spectrum stated that Hurricane Beryl caused third-party infrastructure issues.
In a first-world country, such as the United States of America, robust and resilient infrastructure should be a given, especially for essential services like electricity and internet connectivity.
Over the last 24-hours, Republicans have bombarded my social media posts about Texas’ failing infrastructure. They were calling me “stupid” because it’s expected to lose power in a hurricane. “It’s not a political issue,” they said.
While it’s true that hurricanes and severe weather events can cause power outages, the frequency and duration of these outages in Texas point to deeper issues in infrastructure resilience.
Houston residents are fed up.
Yesterday, a friend of Lone Star Left,
, published a newsletter explaining some of his frustrations with the infrastructure as a Houstonite. Cohen paints a vivid picture of Houston in a constant crisis due to natural disasters.Despite significant investments in infrastructure in recent years, the city frequently experiences flooding, power outages, and wind damage. Houston has faced a series of catastrophic events, including hurricanes, tropical storms, floods, and extreme weather conditions like the recent tornado and severe heat waves. These disasters cause widespread disruption, affecting residents’ power supply, transportation, and daily life.
Daniel’s article criticizes the city’s under-preparation and emphasizes the need for better infrastructure and resilience planning to protect its citizens.
You can read his article here:
I have bad news for Daniel, Houston, and the people of Texas.
According to climate scientists, extreme weather in Texas is likely to become normal. Texas is facing an intense climate crisis that is placing about 40% of homes at “extreme risk” as a result of a climate-related emergency.
It’s only July 10. Hurricane season has barely just started. We haven’t made it to August’s heat waves yet. There is no sign that extreme weather will end in Texas anytime soon. And for many of us, that means the risk of losing electricity for days, weeks, or even indefinitely.
There is a direct correlation between our failing infrastructure and bad Republican governance.
It’s no secret that “Lone Star Left” is a partisan newsletter and isn’t a fan of Republicans. However, the failing infrastructure is the direct fault of Republicans in our state government, and it’s easy to prove. Moreover, it’s easy to prove that despite the GOP opposition, Democrats have tried hard to pass legislation that will bolster our grid and ensure a reliable power supply.
Let’s talk about the 88th Legislative Session.
HB 763, by Christian Morales (D), would have studied the impacts of existing and potential new interconnections of Texas’ electric transmission facilities with those in the United Mexican States. This bill would not have provided immediate relief for the current power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl. However, it would have laid the groundwork for enhancing the resilience of Texas’ power grid by exploring additional power supply and connectivity avenues.
Todd Hunter (R), in the State Affairs Committee, killed this bill.
HB 973, by Erin Zwiener (D), would have created the critical infrastructure resiliency fund. This bill would have provided significant support for improving Texas’ infrastructure, especially in terms of resilience against extreme weather events. The creation of dedicated funds for various critical infrastructure projects and the requirement for matching local funds would have facilitated essential upgrades and preparations, potentially reducing the impact of hurricanes and other disasters on the state’s power grid and basic services.
Todd Hunter (R) also killed this bill.
HB 1013, by Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D), sets ambitious targets for renewable energy adoption in Texas: 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. It required the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to establish rules and performance standards to meet these targets. By promoting renewable energy, the bill would contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are a significant factor in climate change. Mitigating climate change could reduce the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in the long term.
Todd Hunter (R) also killed this bill.
HB 1146, by Ron Reynolds (D), HB 3177, by Jon Rosenthal (D), and SB 31, by Judith Zaffarini (D), all would have required ERCOT to connect to the National Grid. These bills would have enhanced the grid’s ability to handle high demand and emergencies, reduced the likelihood of prolonged outages, and improved Texas’s power infrastructure’s overall reliability and resilience.
Todd Hunter (R) killed the House versions of this bill, and Charles Schartner (R), chairman of the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce, killed the Senate version of this bill.
SB 1212, by Nathan Johnson (D), and HB 2793, by Rafael Anchia (D), would have mandated the establishment of guidelines for the dispatchability, reliability, and interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs), as well as customer protection rules for residential and small commercial customers. It also would have provided for the cost recovery of expenses incurred by utilities to interconnect DERs and ensured that these facilities are considered used and valuable for rate-making purposes. It would have reduced the risks of prolonged outages like those caused by Hurricane Beryl.
Todd Hunter (R) killed both of these bills.
HB 3182, by Jon Rosenthal (D), would have mandated the use of adaptive model data analytics software by the independent organization certified to manage the ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) power region. By improving the accuracy of forecasts, ERCOT can make more informed decisions about resource allocation, load shedding, and other critical actions needed to maintain grid stability and prevent widespread outages.
Todd Hunter (R) killed this bill.
HB 3239, by Ana Hernandez (D), would have likely the current situation by increasing the participation of distributed energy resources (DERs) in the ERCOT ancillary services and wholesale energy markets, thereby enhancing grid resilience and reliability during extreme weather events like Hurricane Beryl.
Todd Hunter (R) killed this bill.
HB 3637, by Vikki Goodwin (D), would have helped the current situation by ensuring a more equitable distribution of load-shedding events and prioritizing critical infrastructure for power restoration during involuntary load-shedding events.
Todd Hunter (R) killed this bill.
I could go on. I spent hours last night sifting through bills, but I think you get the point. Any bills to help improve the electric grid must go through the House Committee on State Affairs. Todd Hunter chaired that committee and killed every infrastructure bill brought by Democrats to ensure grid stability.
Is Todd Hunter a supervillain?
Maybe a better question is: Are there any Republicans left that aren’t supervillains?
Republicans do not believe that the climate crisis is real, no matter how much data or evidence proves it to them. We’re talking about the same people who think Bill Gates is implanting microchips in them to turn them into transhumans. This is just one of the many problems we see when one political party has been taken over by authoritarianism and conspiracy theories.
Over the last several years, Todd Hunter has raked in millions from oil executives, each paying for him to block clean energy and infrastructure bills. Like all Republicans, Hunter prioritizes the wants of his donors over the needs of Texans.
Any other Republican chairing this committee would be the same way.
There are only two ways the infrastructure can get fixed in Texas:
Democrats flip Texas and take control of the House, the Senate, and the Executive Branch.
Democrats win a majority in Congress and a 65+ majority in the US Senate and take control of Texas’ grid. (Because of the filibuster, do not expect grid issues to pass with a simple majority.)
It looks a lot like we’re fucked, huh?
For now, we are.
Republicans have no interest in doing what’s right for Texans or humanity.
The only way out of this is to vote them out. It isn’t hyperbole when it can be proven by the legislative measures taken in the Legislature. The fact remains that Texas Democrats, while in the minority, have bent over backward to improve our crumbling infrastructure, only to be blocked by Republicans with every measure.
As Hurricane Beryl continues to leave Texans without power, it’s clear that the state’s infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle the challenges posed by increasingly frequent and severe weather events. The bills proposed by Democrats during the 88th Legislative Session offered practical solutions to enhance grid resilience, integrate renewable energy, and ensure equitable distribution of load shedding. Still, they were systematically blocked by Republicans like Todd Hunter.
The current situation underscores a broader issue: a political environment where climate science denial and corporate interests overshadow the urgent need for infrastructure improvements. With Republican leaders prioritizing donor interests over the well-being of Texans, the path forward seems bleak unless there is a significant political shift.
Unless Democrats can gain control at either the state or federal levels, Texas will remain vulnerable to power outages and infrastructure failures. The need for robust, climate-resilient infrastructure is not a partisan issue—it’s a matter of public safety and economic stability.
Texans deserve leaders prioritizing their safety and future over short-term gains and ideological stubbornness. The upcoming elections provide an opportunity to change course and invest in a resilient infrastructure that can withstand the challenges of the 21st century. Voting out those who block progress is not just an option; it’s a necessity for the survival and prosperity of the state.
Vote early, vote often, just vote. (And if you’re in Corpus Christi, vote against Todd Hunter.)
118 days left until the November 5 election!
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There always is another reason they want failure for Houston, because it is a Majority Blue County, if they make it a mini failed state, people will leave, thereby reducing blue voters. They are always scheming on the right, always, just like the fascist Nazi’s they are, and just like the German Fascist Nazi’s before them.
They will start doing this to all the blue majority counties, Travis, Dallas, Bexar, El Paso, there are numerous counties in the Rio Grand valley, and a couple in the far west, they just don’t have large cities or population centers.