A nuclear reactor’s malfunction on Friday caused a quarter million people to drop from the Electric Reliability Grid of Texas (ERCOT), forcing the organization to utilize a newly created energy reserve to continue providing power.
The nuclear reactor known as Comanche Peak Unit 1 in Glen Rose was automatically shut down without incident after a feed water pump malfunctioned on June 16.
The reactor is owned and operated by Vistra Energy, a Las Colinas-based power provider that serves 20 states and the District of Columbia.
According to an October 2022 press release from the company, the reactor generates enough power to serve nearly half a million Texas homes in “periods of peak demand.”
As The Dallas Express covered, elevated temperatures across Texas this past week have led to ERCOT issuing its first “weather watch” in anticipation of heightened electricity demands.
Operating since 1990, Comanche Peak is a high-performing power plant. Vistra Energy invested in it to meet what they see as the demand for a clean energy future.
“Our country is navigating a massive transition to cleaner sources of electricity, and at the same time, we cannot lose sight of reliability. Nuclear energy is uniquely positioned to provide that balance of emission-free power and always-on baseload capabilities,” said Vistra Energy CEO Jim Burke in the press release.
Some Texas lawmakers like Governor Greg Abbott have argued that maintaining power while transitioning to cleaner forms of energy, including wind, natural gas, and solar, has strained the Texas grid, according to The Texas Tribune. The grid infamously failed under the strains of the winter storm in February 2021.
In response, the Texas Legislature reformed ERCOT and built a battery storage reserve of energy meant to be utilized in case of a power generation failure. The reserve was launched on June 10 and tapped for the first time during Comanche Peak’s failure on June 16.
With hotter weather expected in the coming months, the reserve’s initial success did not deter local Democrats from continuing to criticize the independent Texas grid.
For instance, Collin County Democrats tweeted that the state narrowly avoided catastrophe.
“A problem at a Texas nuclear power plant Friday caused a sudden dip in electricity supply, forcing ERCOT to tap a brand new reserve system to stabilize the grid. One water pump away from a disaster & relying on emergency power backups, that’s scary!” read the post.