Texas Fixed Its Power Grid. Now a New Threat Is Testing It.

As Texas settles into one of its coldest stretches of the year, Texans are once again nervously eyeing their thermostats and wondering if the grid will withstand the rest of the winter.

In February 2021, Winter Storm Uri showed just how bad grid failure can get. Millions of Texans lost power when temperatures dropped, and 246 people died from exposure, lack of heat, and everything that comes with being without electricity for days. The state’s infrastructure broke down in ways that exposed serious problems with how electricity gets generated and delivered.

Texas didn’t just fail in 2021 because of cold weather. It failed because planning lagged behind reality. The state has learned hard lessons since then, and important steps have been taken to winterize the grid. But those same vulnerabilities are back in focus—this time because of a boom in businesses that use massive amounts of electricity.

Data centers and skyrocketing electricity demand

Texas has become a major destination for data centers. ERCOT, which manages about 90% of the state’s grid, reports exponential growth in requests to plug giant facilities into the system. Many of these facilities are AI and cloud data centers that require several gigawatts of electricity—as much as a small city. 

Now that winter’s arrived and everyone’s cranking up the heat, ERCOT has issued its annual warning that grid risk is “elevated,” which means Texas needs more power than we can reliably produce. Freezing weather would increase that strain exponentially.

Data centers and population growth are driving most of the increased demand.

What we’ve done about it: Bipartisan reforms and infrastructure work

After the 2021 outages, Texas lawmakers passed a bunch of bipartisan laws meant to make the grid stronger. 

The state added new power capacity from renewable sources like solar and battery storage, which can help prevent outages.

To deal with data centers specifically, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 6. The bipartisan law lets grid operators require data centers to disconnect during emergencies so residential power gets priority. That’s a notable policy shift—even in Texas, where the market usually drives decisions more than regulations.

These reforms weren’t pushed by just one party. They reflected widespread bipartisan agreement that the grid needed better defenses and clearer rules to handle large users while protecting reliability.

What still needs to be done

Despite the progress, big challenges remain:

The actual wires that carry power across long distances are expensive and take years to build, and data center growth is outpacing this work.

Electricity generators are powered by natural gas, which is delivered on oil tanker trucks that can be slowed or halted by frozen highways. And the natural gas wells that pump the fuel can grind to a halt when the weather freezes. Inspectors found in 2025 that many of these wells are not adequately prepared to operate in severe cold snaps, despite promises to winterize.  

To make gas wells truly winterized, some argue we must enforce stricter penalties on wells that do not properly prep their hardware for winter by doing things like insulating valves and pipes, installing weatherproof enclosures, and keeping critical components heated. Enforcement is up to the Railroad Commission (the state’s oil and gas regulatory body) but critics say their oversight of the industry has been too lax.  

Another thing we can do is make sure large data centers and other power-hungry facilities comply with grid safety standards before hooking them up. Right now, we’re approving growth first and solving grid reliability later, which puts everyone at risk. The Public Utility Commission of Texas released a draft late last year that would give them the authority to enforce earlier coordination between the grid and large load facilities, but they won’t have such authority until late 2026.

While politically controversial, the federal Connect the Grid Act has been proposed to require Texas to link with national grids. That way, other states could provide Texas power in case of emergencies. Although this could provide extra capacity available during peak stress, it would be expensive, time-consuming, and would not replace the need for strong internal weatherization.

What you can do

1. Participate in Public “Listening Sessions”

The Railroad Commission (RRC) has recently launched virtual Listening Sessions to gather public feedback on its regulatory performance.

• Upcoming Opportunity: The next session is scheduled for Wednesday, January 14, 2026, from noon to 1:30 p.m. CST.
• How to Join: You must Register with the RRC in advance to participate or ask questions. These sessions are specifically designed for Texans to voice concerns about issues like orphaned wells and winterization oversight.

2. File formal complaints

Contact your local Oil & Gas District Office to report specific concerns about well site safety or lack of visible weatherization (like missing insulation or enclosures).

3. Contact elected officials

Your state lawmakers and representatives are responsible for creating the policies that govern the power grid. Reach out to them to express your concerns and advocate for specific solutions, such as:

• Enforcing stricter penalties on natural gas wells and power generation facilities that do not properly weatherize their equipment.
• Ensuring the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) gets the authority to enforce early coordination between the grid and large load facilities, such as data centers.

Building responsibly

Texas has made real progress since the dark days of 2021. The grid is stronger than it was. The rules are clearer. The conversation is more serious. That matters. And it deserves to be recognized.

But progress doesn’t mean protection if growth keeps outpacing safety. As AI data centers and other power-hungry industries flood into the state, we risk repeating a familiar mistake: putting speed, profit, and business development ahead of the basic responsibility to keep Texans safe in extreme weather.

Economic growth should never come at the cost of public safety. And it doesn’t have to. Texas can lead in innovation and reliability, but only if we demand that new industries meet the same standard we expect of our leaders: prepare first, expand second.

The work isn’t finished. And the next chapter of Texas’s energy story should be written not by who builds fastest—but by who builds responsibly.

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