Texas Blackout: What Really Happened
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Why did Texas, arguably the most energy-rich state in the union, lose power for days on end, creating a life and death moment for Texans? Texas experiences similar freezes about once a decade, weather records show. So why were Texans not losing their lives during those cold freezes - that were such non-events that most Texans barely remember them? What changed with the Texas power grid? Jacki explores the energy transition over the past decade which took Texas from being 37% coal powered and 6% wind powered to 20.8% coal powered and 20% wind powered. Half of Texas wind turbines froze and the rest collapsed in output. Where are the mega-batteries for wind energy storage that experts promised were just around the corner...15 years ago? Joe Biden promised to increase U.S. reliance on wind power ten fold. How many Americans' lives will be endangered in doing so? Some pundits have blamed natural gas for failing Texans, but we know that natural gas powers some of the most reliable grids in some of the coldest places on earth. So what went wrong? Jacki answers these questions and more.
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