Two weeks ago, Austin and Central Texas were hit hard by an ice storm that knocked out power. Power restoration was not complete until the weekend.
This week will be Texas’ second anniversary of Winter Storm Uri, the devastating blackouts across the state that continue to reverberate throughout the state and state government.
Both the causes of the catastrophes were different. In 2021, bitterly cold frozen large-scale power and gas infrastructures, while 2023’s outages resulted from ice-coated branches falling from trees and cutting off electricity lines.
Texans suffered the same: a loss in power during a cold spell, causing people to go to a shelter or shiver through frigid nights. The Texas Monthly piece ” We Texans are on Our Own When Disasters Strike” shows the despair Texans have felt lately when extreme weather strikes.
Freedom Solar’s mission is to empower people to live more powerfully. This includes assigning them to protect their families, businesses, and themselves from such crises.
We’ve been hearing more stories from customers and others who have installed solar panels or energy storage units in the wake of the 2021 blackouts.
This winter, temperatures and ice began to fall, making it even more critical for these systems. Customers switched to their home batteries when power was lost in their neighborhoods. The storms had been fully charged by the sun during the previous days.
These batteries were able to keep lights on and heat running for people. While they waited for power to return, many people hosted their friends to heat up and charge their devices.
This is what powerful living means. It is knowing you are free from the reliability issues of the power grid, , and high bills, which are made even more difficult by fuel price volatility and other disasters.
It’s clear that Texas’ electricity system is in dire need of improvement. As I’ve stated before Texas must do more to rethink power policies from the point of view of everyday Texans. The state should focus on improving the lives of people. This means ensuring power is available on those days when the electricity infrastructure is not optimal and helping people to save money on their rising power bills all year.
This ice storm is similar to Winter Storm Uri and shows how rooftop solar, storage systems, community projects and other forms distributed energy generation are all part of the solution.