Power Emergency Declared In Texas To “Mitigate Blackouts” – Thousands Impacted By Winter Storm

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) declared an emergency order “for the deployment of backup generation resources in order to mitigate blackouts in Texas during Winter Storm Fern.”

“Issued pursuant to Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, the order authorizes the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities. Today’s action follows a letter Secretary Wright sent Thursday to grid operators asking them to be prepared to use backup generation if needed to mitigate the risk of blackouts during the storm,” the DOE stated in a release.

“DOE estimates more than 35 GW of unused backup generation remains available nationwide. The order will help ERCOT with the extreme temperatures and storm destruction across Texas

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