Original title: Rare cold wave caused millions of people to be affected by power outage in Texas
Currently, extreme cold weather is sweeping across the southern United States. Due to the destruction of the power system by the cold wave, a large-scale blackout occurred in Texas, USA. Millions of people were unable to keep warm, and their homes were cut off from water or electricity. The temperature in Texas once dropped to minus 19 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature since 1989.
Under the influence of the imbalance of supply and demand, the price of electricity in Texas once soared nearly 200 times. According to reports, the wholesale electricity price in Texas once exceeded $10,000/MWh within this week, which is equivalent to 65 yuan per kilowatt-hour of electricity, an increase of nearly 200 times compared to the average daily electricity price.
A series of problems caused by power shortage have seriously affected the lives of local people. However, Tim Boyd, the mayor of Colorado, Texas, shirked his responsibility on social media, stating that “people without electricity or water should find a way to survive.” The remarks caused fierce controversy, and Boyd has now resigned.
And another Texas congressman, Ted Cruz, is also in a vortex of public opinion. He was called for resignation after he went to Cancun, Mexico for a holiday during the crisis in Texas. Cruz has admitted that this trip was an “obvious error” and said he will return to Houston, Texas later on Thursday.
Texas is one of the most market-oriented regions for electricity in the United States. It does not have much electricity reserves, because reserves mean rising costs. Under its plan to deal with extreme weather, the most extreme power demand in Texas is around 67GW; however, affected by the cold wave this time, more than 30GW of equipment in Texas could not work, and the peak demand for electricity reached nearly 70GW.
Texas officials said on the 17th that 2.7 million users across the state had power outages. Natural gas wells, pipelines, and wind turbines cannot operate normally due to freezing. Texas has lost about 40% of its power generation capacity. The low-temperature weather is expected to continue. The restoration of power supply will be a slow process.
The power outage also caused the water plant equipment to fail to operate. About 7 million people in Texas were told that they needed to boil the tap water for drinking. Some hospitals in Houston, the largest city, have no water available. Governor Greg Abbott urged residents to cut off water sources in their homes if possible, to rupture water pipes and maintain water pressure in the city’s water supply system.
But the current power outage in Texas has been somewhat eased. As of Thursday, the number of people affected by the power outage in Texas had fallen below 500,000 for the first time in four days. Officials hope that people will soon be able to enter a state of alternating power outages, tolerate them temporarily, and then full power will be restored.
Why is there a rare cold wave in Texas?
Take Dallas, Texas as an example. The highest temperature in the area has been minus 10 degrees Celsius in recent days, while the usual highest temperature at this time should be around 15 degrees Celsius.
According to the National Weather Service, the cold wave came because an “Arctic Cold Front” originating from the US-Canada border passed by, bringing a lot of rain, snow and extremely cold temperatures.
Usually this kind of cold front will be affected by a series of low-pressure cyclones and stay in the Arctic region. But this time, a cold front moved from Canada to the United States, spreading to the central and southern states.
The National Weather Service said that the record low temperature will continue for several days, and more than 71% of the US territory may be covered by ice and snow.
How big is the impact?
Texas is home to the Port Arthur Refinery, the largest oil refinery in the United States. It produces approximately 4.6 million barrels of oil per day, accounting for about 40% of the country’s output. At the same time, the state’s natural gas production accounts for about a quarter of the country’s output. Due to large-scale power outages, oil and gas production and refinery production in Texas were interrupted.
In addition to oil and gas production, oil and gas transportation capacity is also limited due to the severe cold, and the Houston terminal in Texas was once forced to close, resulting in the suspension of oil transportation.
In addition, the winter storms that swept across many states in the United States have also severely affected inbound and outbound flights, logistics, and supermarket operations.
In addition to Texas, other southern states such as Louisiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina have also been affected by cold waves. Traffic accidents caused by road icing and carbon monoxide poisoning caused by indoor generator heating have also occurred. All kinds of casualties.
According to US media reports, more than 30 deaths are believed to be related to this extreme weather. In the Houston area, a family was poisoned by carbon monoxide from car exhaust in a garage, and a grandmother and three children were killed by the burning fireplace.
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