The Texas power grid system, which failed during a winter storm five years ago, could be put to the test this weekend as the region faces subfreezing temperatures and dangerous wind chills.
But Texas officials and power company executives are not expecting a widespread failure like the one that left millions without power and led to more than 200 deaths in 2021. They point to infrastructure improvements made since that storm that make the system less vulnerable to freezing temperatures.
An arctic air mass is set to begin on Friday and will affect regions spanning 2,000 miles across the country, from Texas to the East Coast. At least132 million peopleare under weather-related alerts nationwide, stretching from the Arizona-New Mexico border to upstate New York.
Dallas, which was severely affected by the power grid failure, is forecast to see 36 straight hours of freezing precipitation, with an accumulation of 1 to 3 inches of snow and 0.25 to 0.50 inches of ice.
The National Weather Service in Fort Worthsaid in a post on Xthat wind chill values of -10 to 0 degrees are expected across the state.
The state's largest electrical grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said it is ready for the storm and expects "sufficient generation to meet demand this winter."
"ERCOT will continue to deploy all available resources to manage the grid reliably and coordinate closely with the Public Utility Commission, generation providers, and transmission utilities," a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Thegrid infamously failed following a February 2021 storm, leaving millions of customers without power in subfreezing temperatures.
During that storm, power plants and grid equipment froze in the frigid temperatures as the demand for heat climbed. Customers were left to deal with near-freezing homes,no clean drinking water, burst pipes and no electricity for days. More than 200 people died.
Amid the disaster, wholesale electricity prices hit the system cap of $9,000 per megawatt-hour. In aclass action civil lawsuit against wholesale electricity provider Griddy, customers complained that their monthly bills rose to several hundred or even thousands of dollars during the storm.
The company, accused of price gouging, was eventually banned by ERCOT from operating,essentially leading it to shut down.
ERCOT said it has made several improvements since 2021, including weatherization and inspection of electric generation units and transmission facilities, a contingency reserve and scheduled maintenance.
Pablo Vegas, the company's president and CEO, said in a Thursday press conference that they have done over 4,000 inspections of power-generating facilities and transmission facilities over the last few years.
Matthew Boms, executive director of the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance, told NBC News that winterization and weatherization of the grid are among the most important changes ERCOT has made.
"Technically speaking, that means insulating pipes, valves, instruments so they don't freeze, adding heat tracing, like electric heaters, on critical equipment, protecting sensors, control systems and weatherproofing," Boms said in a phone call.
"For the natural gas pipelines, it means insulating and heating the wellheads, valves, compressors, protecting all the gas processing equipment, and adding backup generators," he continued. "That's huge because in 2021, the gas system failed first and that's what took the power plants down with it."
Boms said the power grid also uses renewable energy and battery storage, something that wasn't in place in 2021 during winter storm Uri. He said the batteries save power "when we have extra, and they give it back to the grid when it needs it the most."
"Right now, we've got about 17,000 megawatts of battery storage. We're actually leading the country in battery storage and virtually none of that was online in 2021," he explained. "That's a brand new resource we brought into our grid. Batteries make a huge difference when it comes to this type of winter event."
Boms said local outages from ice and downed trees are still possible, but the "chances of a Uri-scale failure are far lower than they were back then."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that he is enacting a disaster declaration covering 134 counties across the state ahead of the incoming "severe" storm.
In addition to several inches of snow, a dangerous ice storm is also expected in parts of the southern Plains. Icing amounts of 0.50 to 1.00 inches are possible.
"The ERCOT grid has never been stronger, never been more prepared and is fully capable of handling this winter storm," Abbott said at a Thursday news conference. "There is no expectation whatsoever that there's going to be any loss of power from the power grid."
And Texas is not the only state bracing for possible power outages due to the dangerous storm. As of Thursday afternoon, state of emergency declarations were issued in Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas and North Carolina.
The National Weather Service for Raleigh cautioned that widespread snow, freezing rain and sleet are expected Saturday through Monday, which could lead to moderate to major impacts in infrastructure, transportation and power outages.
A spokesperson with Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company said crews are already on standby to handle any potential increase in demand due to the frigid temperatures.
"We're always prepared, and everyone is always on standby at OGE," the spokesperson, Sheradee Hurst, toldNBC affiliate KFOR of Oklahoma City."This is what they train for. Our crews spend so much time invested in training so that they are prepared for situations like this."
