WSJ Factcheck: Renewables Are Not to Blame for Recent Power Outages and Grid Issues in Texas and California

By: ACORE Communications TeamJune 24, 2021
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board continues to spread blatant false information to promote the false narrative that current power outages and grid problems in Texas and California were triggered by the increasing presence of sustainable power. Following 4 turned down attempts to enable us to correct the record in their publication, here are the truths:

Efforts to score ideological points by blaming renewables for the grid concerns in Texas and California overlook clear proof to the contrary, and run counter to the conclusions of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the California Independent System Operator.
ERCOT pointed out reduced gas availability and frozen instruments at gas, coal, and nuclear centers as the leading reasons for power interruptions in February. By contrast, wind was cited as “the least substantial” factor to blackouts.
80% of the required failures in ERCOT area this June were coal, nuclear or gas plants.
Sustainable tasks provide economical power, and they have shown less prone to the impacts of climate-induced weather condition extremes than fossil-fired or nuclear power plants.
Renewable resource assists us avoid the worst effects of climate change, a particularly crucial matter given brand-new data showing that global greenhouse emissions are climbing rapidly..
With much better transmission connections to the nearby regional grid operator, the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), Texas would have no issue satisfying its power requires, and could take advantage of SPP energy market value that depended on 100 times lower than rates in ERCOT when the Texas grid was worried on June 14.

The WSJ Editorial Board did not require to look any even more than their own newsroom to understand that natural gas scarcities caused the devastating power blackouts that affected countless Texans previously this year. Taking political shots at renewable generation is of little assistance when it is extensively obvious that to guarantee a more reliable power supply throughout these significantly typical severe weather occasions, we require to update and upgrade our outdated and balkanized electrical grid. What editorial pages need to be urging is construction of a nationally incorporated Macro Grid to send readily available power to where its needed, which would improve grid reliability, save consumers billions of dollars, provide significant task creation and drastically decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

June 14 SPP Locational Marginal Prices.
Source: Southwest Power Pool
.
June 14 ERCOT Locational Marginal Prices.
Source: Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Taking political shots at sustainable generation is of little help when it is extensively apparent that to make sure a more trusted power supply throughout these significantly typical extreme weather condition events, we require to improve and upgrade our out-of-date and balkanized electrical grid. What editorial pages ought to be prompting is construction of a nationally integrated Macro Grid to send available power to where its needed, which would enhance grid dependability, save consumers billions of dollars, deliver considerable task development and dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions.