Public Safety and Infrastructure Resilience

NPR looks at how Texas has changed its power system five years after the catastrophic February 2021 blackouts that killed at least 246 people and left millions without heat. The state’s isolated ERCOT grid now operates under new weatherization rules for power plants and gas facilities, with penalties of up to $1 million per day per violation, and has added more grid‑scale batteries and renewable generation to help meet peak demand. A late‑January 2026 cold snap that caused at least 13 deaths did not trigger widespread blackouts, which experts attribute partly to milder conditions than 2021 and partly to these new 'layers of reliability.' Industry and former regulators say Texas is better prepared for extreme cold than it was, but the piece underscores that the system has not yet been tested by a storm as long and severe as Winter Storm Uri. The story feeds into a broader national debate over grid resilience as climate change increases weather volatility and as other states weigh how aggressively to winterize gas and power infrastructure.