Last winter’s power outages in Texas rightfully angered consumers and gave the media a reason to blame its conservative governance and principles. And why did indeed such thing happen in a modern country?
The state is a major energy producer. If Texas was an independent country, it would be the third biggest gas producer in the world, right after the USA and Russia.
Texas produces a stunning 20,321 megawatts of wind energy – which equals to 5 big nuclear plants! The state also produces energy from nuclear, solar and coal sources – a balanced mix that makes the state resilient to consumption fluctuations or crisis situations.
Texas is the No. 1 US state for total energy production and produces more electricity than any other state, generating almost twice as much as the second highest-producing state (California). Because of its climate, Texas also consumes the most energy in the country. With all this abundance of energy, why did Texas experience electricity shortages in 2021 – and why it didn’t in 2022?
Here’s an important part of the answer: the Texas population grew by almost 5 million only in the last 10 years. People flee from “progressive” to conservative states – and mostly to Texas, by roughly half a million a year. There’s a word for it: “leftugees”.
5 million is the entire population of New Zealand, or Norway! Imagine that the whole population of New Zealand decided to move to Texas, and did it, within 10 short years!
The lone star state managed to accommodate all these folks – not all from New Zealand but mostly other US states, plus the immigrants from abroad. I’m one of them, thank you, Texans! Houses were built for them, they have water, electricity, roads, schools, hospitals, stores and restaurants, plus the entire modern infrastructure and services.
In all fairness, Texas did a fantastic job! If the media were objective, we should read long stories about this amazing achievement. If Hollywood studios were looking for real stories, movies and documentaries would be made on the subject. Pundits should analyze and celebrate the silent work of millions of Texans through these few years, and to study what fuels the fantastic growth of this state.
I can’t think of another country that has achieved such an exploit!
Providing electricity in such a short term (it takes years to plan and build a power plant), for so many new customers is a challenge. Texas mostly succeeded.
How often do we hear anyone to be an “apologist” for Texas?
At the same time, other cities and states are in peril. In Chicago, dozens are being shot on a daily basis. The ordeal in Minneapolis, San Francisco, or in New York is of biblical proportions. The destruction of these places is covered with silence.
Numbers tell it all. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, California, New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois lost a combined 4 million residents between 2010 and 2019.
California has power outages every year. We barely hear of that. For a whole year, New York and New Jersey had the most COVID casualties per capita, in the whole world. Nobody even mentions it. But Texas was called “barbaric” by the US president, for its reasonable management of the COVID crisis, which proved to be more realistic than the hysterical lockdowns in other states.
This year the Texas grid did much better, during the winter storm, but that’s not interesting to the media.
By any measure, Texas is an international success story. Big and small businesses are moving to the state, bringing jobs, know-how and wealth. The economy of Texas is becoming even more diversified and robust, providing stability and opportunities for the future generations.
The media may be turning blind eyes to this great story, but it’s just fair to say: Good job, Texas!