The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout
KUT & KUTX Studios, Mose Buchele
25 episodes
5 months ago
Millions of Texans lost power during a winter storm in February 2021. Hundreds may have died. And people wondered: “How could this happen in the energy capital of the U.S.?” To understand how we got the electric grid we have in Texas today, you have to understand the electric grid we had up until a little more than 20 years ago — and how a group of power companies, environmentalists, cities and state lawmakers hatched a plan to completely remake it. Did the experiment fail? Hosted by Mose Buchele and produced at KUT & KUTX Studios.
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Millions of Texans lost power during a winter storm in February 2021. Hundreds may have died. And people wondered: “How could this happen in the energy capital of the U.S.?” To understand how we got the electric grid we have in Texas today, you have to understand the electric grid we had up until a little more than 20 years ago — and how a group of power companies, environmentalists, cities and state lawmakers hatched a plan to completely remake it. Did the experiment fail? Hosted by Mose Buchele and produced at KUT & KUTX Studios.
The Disconnect has been nominated for Best Podcast in the Politics and Media section of the Austin Chronicle’s 35th Annual Best of Austin Readers Poll. You can vote for the podcast, and for your other favorite things in Austin at https://vote.austinchronicle.com/
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Texas leaders would have you believe there are two options: a reliable grid or a sustainable grid. In our season finale, we explore how those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. And how — if left alone — the Texas electricity market might make the decision on its own. The Disconnect is produced at KUT, a […]
When the 2021 blackout struck, the finger-pointing began. Electric utilities versus pipeline companies. But finding out exactly what happened is one of the most frustrating parts oil and gas regulation in Texas: getting a clear picture of who did what isn’t really possible. But there’s one man who says he can see exactly what happened. […]
As the Texas Railroad Commission falls from global oil dominance, the energy crisis of the 1970s strikes and one gas company cuts power to millions. What comes next brings plenty of political intrigue, and sets up a divided system of energy regulation in Texas unlike anywhere else in the country.
We tell the story of how the National Guard descended on the East Texas oilfield, the chaos that followed, and how a bar fight in Austin helped establish a new system of energy regulation.
Hear the story of a con man and a group of hardscrabble East Texas farmers who uncovered the biggest oilfield in U.S. history — and how that discovery forced an obscure state agency to confront the destructive forces of unrestrained oil drilling.
In this season of The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout, we explore the history of Texas oil and gas regulation, how the industry — with the help of state officials— became largely self-regulating and what that means for energy reliability in Texas.
In this bonus episode, you’ll hear a panel of experts we brought together to mark two years since the 2021 blackout, where we discuss the future of the Texas grid in the face of climate change and the increasingly extreme weather linked to it.
Nearly two years after the big blackout in Texas, how big of an issue is the power grid in the 2022 race for governor? We talk with Julian Aguilar, a reporter for the Texas Newsroom. The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations […]
We’ve already learned how Texas (or at least most of it) is an energy island — mostly cut off from grids in other states. In this episode, we’ll hear about the time when one power company went rogue and threw a transmission line across the Oklahoma border. This is the story of why they tried […]
We’ve talked about the supply-side fixes — but what about the demand side? The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in the state. It received support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight […]
A year and a half after the blackout, lots of Texans are still wondering if they can rely on the power grid. After conservation alerts and one pretty close call this summer, it can seem like the grid is still on a knife’s edge. We look at what’s changed, what hasn’t and how that lack […]
Texans have seen their electric bills rise dramatically since the blackouts last year. We’ll break down all the links in the electric supply chain that each need to get paid — and explain how we’ll still be paying the costs of the blackout for decades to come. The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of […]
In the time since the blackout, state officials, ERCOT and power generators have tried to convince Texans that they’ve got things under control. But a lot of people aren’t convinced. And with good reason. In this episode, we’ll explore how the trauma of the blackout is still with us — and how we still haven’t dealt with the true toll of the disaster. We’ll hear from one family who lost an entire generation.
Texas lawmakers passed a law earlier this year requiring power plants to winterize — but what does that really mean? And what about winterizing other things that are needed to make sure the lights don’t go out in a storm again?
So what did state leaders do to make sure something like the February blackout never happens again? And what role did deregulation play in the failure of the Texas power grid? Find a full transcript of this episode here.
A huge catastrophe. Dozens dead. A city without power or water. It’s like a miniature version of the February blackouts. Except this happened more than 100 years ago in Texas — and leaders faced some of the same questions then as they do now.
The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout
Millions of Texans lost power during a winter storm in February 2021. Hundreds may have died. And people wondered: “How could this happen in the energy capital of the U.S.?” To understand how we got the electric grid we have in Texas today, you have to understand the electric grid we had up until a little more than 20 years ago — and how a group of power companies, environmentalists, cities and state lawmakers hatched a plan to completely remake it. Did the experiment fail? Hosted by Mose Buchele and produced at KUT & KUTX Studios.
