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The Texas Tribune
The Texas Tribune
National
Emily Foxhall

Texas utility commission chair raises threat of summer power outages and pushes for more gas-powered electricity

Vistra Corp.’s Midlothian Power Plant opened its doors to media on October 15, 2021 to show the plant’s weatherization process. Energy providers like Vistra are preparing their plants for extreme weather conditions following the February winter storm Uri, which disrupted the Texas electric grid and led to the deaths of more than 200 people.
Vistra Corp.’s Midlothian Power Plant. The head of the state Public Utility Commission said Wednesday that Texas needs more on-demand power sources such as gas-fired power plants to make the state’s main grid more reliable during peak demand. (Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune)

Public Utility Commission Chair Peter Lake on Wednesday warned that Texas’ main power grid is at risk for outages this summer if wind turbines don’t produce enough electricity when it’s needed. He yet again made the case that more on-demand power sources, such as natural-gas-fueled power plants or batteries, need to be built to make the grid more reliable.

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