Texas Blackout Risk Looms as Grid Fails to Secure New Supplies

Texans are facing the threat of blackouts from severe storms this winter after the state’s grid failed to secure additional power supply to significantly reduce the risk.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or Ercot as the grid operator is known, only received 11.1 megawatts of offers from consumers who promised to curtail usage during tight conditions, according to a Friday statement. The grid operator was vying to procure up to 3,000 megawatts for this December through February, typically enough to power about 600,000 homes, according to an Oct. 2 notice.

Dallas Morning News reported the news earlier ...