Rethinking Grid Governance for Texas in the Climate Change Era

Climate change has been plaguing the United States, most recently with increasingly extreme weather (Chediak & Malik, 2021). The February 2021 blackouts in Texas impacted over 4 million individuals for several days (Reuters Staff, 2021). The Texas blackouts disproportionately affected many low-income and marginalized communities (Srikanth, n.d.). In this paper, the author will analyze whether there is a lack of regulation in the energy sector. The current statutory framework provides power-sharing between federal and state governments with respect to energy regulation (Srikanth, n.d.). Energy deregulation in Texas has both advantages and disadvantages. This research will evaluate the impact of deregulation in the energy sector. In addition, the author will explain how public needs should affect the constitutional allocation of power between federal and state governments. The goal of this research is to provide historical context with which to evaluate some difficult challenges facing Texas today due to the February 2021 blackouts. Furthermore, this research will provide recommendations on how to prevent future blackout problems. This research encourages regulation reform for the transmission grid and the regional power market. Ensuring resiliency in grids is important in preventing severe natural disasters (Waseem & Manshadi, 2020). The author will argue that the federal government, Congress, Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should cooperate more in implementing grid regulations.