The “once-in-a-generation winter storm” followed the last once-in-a-generation winter storm by a mere 10 years. Texas expected the miracle of the free market to lead power generators & providers to winterize. They didn’t. Now it appears Texas consumers will pay for it.
“The once-in-a-generation winter storm in Texas that knocked out the state’s power grid in February may have killed as much as five times as many people as the state has confirmed in its official death toll.
“The state has reported 151 deaths connected to the storm—but a BuzzFeed News analysis of excess deaths in Texas right before and after the storm shows that around 700 people died in the week of the most widespread power failures.
“Beto O’Rourke, the one-time Democratic presidential hopeful, cited the BuzzFeed News analysis in a tweet that read: ‘We now know that the Texas government’s repeated failure to modernize our energy systems killed over 700 Texans in February’s winter storm.’
“The analysis reportedly shows that there were between 426 and 978 excess deaths in Texas in the week ending Feb. 20.
“Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s press secretary told the site that he mourns “every single life lost” during the storm, but did not answer questions about the massive difference in the numbers.“ thedailybeast.com/texas-winter-s…
Original source: buzzfeednews.com/article/petera…
P.S. The few Texas counties that were not tied in to the ERCOT power grid suffered no power disruptions at all.
P.P.S. It was freaking cold and miserable for a week.
“The state’s tally currently stands at 151 deaths.
“But by looking at how many more people died during and immediately after the storm than would have been expected — an established method that has been used to count the full toll of other disasters —
“we estimate that 700 people were killed by the storm during the week with the worst power outages.
“This astonishing toll exposes the full consequence of officials’ neglect in preventing the power grid’s collapse despite repeated warnings of its vulnerability to cold weather, as well as the state’s failure to reckon with the magnitude of the crisis that followed.”
“Neighboring states that were hit hard by the winter storm but did not experience the widespread power outages seen in Texas did not show a spike in deaths.”
“[W[ith the state’s legislative session ending on May 31, lawmakers only have a week left to finalize a proposal to address some of the vulnerabilities that made the February storm so horrific.
“ ‘As it stands, nothing has happened,’ said Michael Webber, a professor of mechanical engineering focused on energy infrastructure at the University of Texas at Austin.”
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