Avoiding Blackouts: The Future of U.S. Energy Policy and Lessons Learned from the 2021 Texas Power Outage

March 11, 2022

“Avoiding Blackouts: The Future of U.S. Energy Policy and Lessons Learned from the 2021 Texas Power Outage”

Featuring Robert Bryce Producer of the documentary film Juice: How Electricity Explains the World Author of A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations
Blu Hulsey
Senior Vice President at Continental Resources
Jacki Pick Deason Host/Producer of The Jacki Daily Show

View Robert Bryce’s presentation slides HERE. View Blu Hulsey’s presentation slides HERE. Return to the Energy and Climate Summit main page HERE.

Robert Bryce and Blu Hulsey discuss the lessons learned from the Texas electric grid disaster in Winter 2021, during which 700 Texans died and hundreds of billions of dollars in productivity was lost. They argue the disaster was caused by overinvestment in renewables and a massive divestment in coal and nuclear. In the years leading up to the blackouts, 66 billion dollars were spent by investors alongside 22 billion dollars in subsidies for Texas wind and solar projects. Over that period, the Texas energy grid lost 6.2GW of coal-generated electricity. Both Bryce and Hulsey argue that America suffers from “energy poverty,” and more consideration must be placed on an energy source’s reliability, which wind and solar alone cannot provide. Change and improvement will take time, as we currently lack the equipment, supply chains, training, and qualified personnel. They recommend that state officials should pay attention to their grids and stop ignoring the cost associated with decreased reliability.

“There is an ‘Iron Law of Electricity’: people, businesses, and countries will do whatever they have to do to get the electricity they need.” – Robert Bryce

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