Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, the trade group representing the region’s power producers, said the widespread power outages in Texas are a product of the state’s grid not being prepared for the extreme and prolonged temperatures that the state is experiencing. In New England, power producers invest in winterization, Dolan said. Some of that has to do with using the right lubricants for power turbines, like using antifreeze in a car. Another key issue that has emerged in early evaluations of the power grid in Texas, is the state’s lack of connection to other grids that could have potentially provided power from as its own generators failed. Marcello Graziano, an associate professor and economic geographer at Southern Connecticut State University agreed that Texas has only a small ability to make up for losses of power by drawing from other grids. Traditionally, electric utilities have used forecasting tools that use historical data to predict future energy demand, Tierney said. As the climate changes, we’re seeing more unusual events and extreme weather that we haven’t seen in the past, she said.
As the Electrical Grid Collapses in Texas, New England Takes Note