The crisis sounded an alarm for power systems throughout the country. Measures that could help make electric grids more robust — such as fortifying power plants against extreme weather or installing more backup power sources — could prove expensive. Texas’ grid operators had anticipated that, in the worst case, the state would use 67 gigawatts of electricity during the winter peak. A number of the state’s power plants were also offline for scheduled maintenance in preparation for the summer peak. But these solutions all cost money, and grid operators are often wary of forcing consumers to pay extra for safeguards.

Source: bd News24 February 16, 2021 22:52 UTC