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It's Been Six Months Since the Texas Blackout, Here's What's Happened Since

Ice covers power lines in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Austin on Thursday.
Julia Reihs
/
KUT
Ice covers power lines in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Austin on Thursday.

After millions of Texans lost power in February, state lawmakers vowed to fix the system that had failed so dramatically. But what, really, did they accomplish?

The devastating blackout that hit Texas in February exposed weaknesses in every part of the state’s energy system. Physical breakdowns from natural gas wells to power plants slashed the amount of electricity available just when people needed it most. That scarcity helped drive the price of power to historic highs, leaving a financial cost that will take decades to settle.

In the months following, state lawmakers vowed to fix the system that had failed so dramatically. But what, really, did they accomplish?

That question is explored in the final episode of KUT’s The Disconnect, Power Politics and the Texas Blackout.

In The Fallout, you'll hear from Texans struggling to pay their bills, regulators struggling to explain their actions and an energy industry struggling to cover its ass.

This episode brings you from the freezing days of the blackout, through the finger pointing of last spring’s legislative session right up to today, when new laws meant to improve the state grid are slowly being put into effect.

Is the Texas grid any better off than it was before the blackout?

Copyright 2021 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit KUT 90.5.

Mose Buchele is the Austin-based broadcast reporter for KUT's NPR partnership StateImpact Texas . He has been on staff at KUT 90.5 since 2009, covering local and state issues. Mose has also worked as a blogger on politics and an education reporter at his hometown paper in Western Massachusetts. He holds masters degrees in Latin American Studies and Journalism from UT Austin.