Biden Launches Plan To Reconnect Texas To National Grid

Texas moved one step closer to electric grid reliability this week as the Biden-Harris Administration announced plans to reconnect parts of the Texas grid to one of the two nation power structures.

The Department of Energy announced a grant of $1.5 billion in electrical improvements nationwide. Among those is $360 million that will connect the Texas grid to Louisiana and Mississippi. Dubbed Southern Spirit, it is spearheaded by Pattern Energy. It will begin construction in 2028 with a completion date by 2031.

“The U.S. transmission network is the backbone of our nation’s electricity system. Though our grid has served U.S. energy needs for more than a century, our country’s needs are changing,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk in a press release. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to bolstering our power grid to improve the everyday life of Americans through affordable power, fewer blackouts, more reliable power, and additional jobs across our country.”

The project is projected to deliver 3.5 percent of necessary energy during peak hours.

However, this plan falls far short of total connection to the national grid. Texas isolated from the nation electrical system in the 1930s in order to avoid regulations during the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration. Since then, it has remained its own entity separate from the two major national networks.

This connection will not put the Electric Reliability Council of Texas under federal oversight, nor will it compel the state to accept greater connectivity. A bill in the past Texas legislature brought by Rep. Greg Casar (D-Austin) would have reconnected Texas completely and would have put ERCOT under the control of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission but went nowhere.

The grid’s structure remains on many Texans’ minds as the long, hot summer gives way to fall. Two storms in May and July left millions of Texans without power for days or even weeks. In 2021, the entire state’s power system was crippled by Winter Storm Uri, leading to calls for reform that went largely unheeded in Austin.

Instead, minor adjustments to electrical policy were made, including giving ERCOT some ability to punish power suppliers for failing to improve their infrastructure. Despite this, the storms and climbing temperatures still strained the grid, and ERCOT was forced to plead with residents to lower their energy use.

The load is further burdened by the explosion in Texas of crypto mining and data centers. These operations drain enormous amounts of power, sometimes enough to run an entire town. While crypto miners have promised to shut down during times of grid fragility, they use up an increasing amount of power generated in the state.

Texas has three other connections to the outside grids, which are sometimes used to export power to other states. The new connection would triple the interstate transmission capabilities. While far from the extensive grid reform required, it is at least something.