I would love to hear your take on the Texas grid status post Hurricane Beryl

I found this podcast looking for answers on why CenterPoint Energy was doing such a horrible job after Beryl. Got all the answers and then some!

This team does a great job of explaining how the grid in Texas works and how it has evolved since it’s inception. I’m definitely impressed with the research that was conducted. Thank you!

The quality, the sensitivity, and the depth of this reporting is why I’m a sustaining KUT member. Your reporting is something Texans CAN be proud of, when there is so much our lawmakers do about which we should be concerned. Thank you!

If you live in Texas or use electricity anywhere (except if you are off the grid) this is a must listen! Excellent research and reporting by the KUT team - this is a complex and nuanced topic and they did a great job making it more accessible.

This is a story about Texas that addresses some of the biggest national questions of our time: aging infrastructure, the legacy of deregulation, market enterprise vs. regulation, the historical role of “public goods,” and so much more. Wonderful production of a fascinating and meaningful story.

The first season was superior storytelling. Having lived through the storm, I found those first episodes riveting. But the second season seems to have lost its way with jingles, sound effects, and unfortunate production choices designed to compensate for the lack of a compelling narrative.. The second episode was filled with distracting editing as they “followed the money,” inserting sound bites every time they mentioned one of the players, that I stopped listening in utter frustration. It was cute the first or second time, but by the twentieth time I was ready to tear out my ear buds. Can’t recommend the first season highly enough.

Love my Hometown Heroes at KUT. Great reporting that needs to be heard. Check it out!!!

I lived through the winter storm of 2021 & found Season 1 SUPER informative. It provided great info on how Texas got to its present energy configuration plus winter storm coverage/aftermath. I’m so happy Season 2 is here - looking forward to more great info/coverage!!

Having lived through the winter storm in 2021, I found this podcast really interesting. They provided a lot of background on the energy market in Texas and walked the listener through the events of the blackout day by day. I found the podcast really interesting and they did a good job keeping me engaged. Highly recommend for anyone in Texas.

Fascinating information, well reported. Highly recommend

This is what great reporting sounds like. It’s good to hear a clear and concise explanation of what happened.

In 1994 I left the oil & gas fields of Alaska’s North Slope to work in Hong Kong and China on a new natural gas project designed to replace Hong Kong’s electric grid’s reliance on “dirty” fuels like coal with “cleaner” fuels like natural gas. When I arrived I was assigned to work at the new Black Point Power Station (BPPS) located at the western edge of Hong Kong’s New Territory. In 1994 Hong Kong was still under UK control and the electric power company was called China Light & Power (CL&P). One of the biggest take aways from the eight years I spent at the BPPS was learning what a really reliable energy grid looks like. First off, the grid needs to be connected to a larger grid not only to share energy but to increase reliability. Secondly, every single device that could malfunction and cause an outage was triplicated and voted on by a dedicated system apart from the everyday process control system. Finally, CL&P was required to have a certain percentage of backup power spinning on reserve just in case one of the normal power generating units suddenly went offline. China Light & Power referred to those of us that were responsible for natural gas delivery as “cowboys” because the international arm of our oil & gas company was based out of Plano, Texas. They were not being nice. At the time We had little to no clue what a modern electric grid operator meant by the term “reliability.” The questions in this podcast do a great job of reporting on the behind the scenes decisions made by the Texas Energy big players (electric utilities, oil & gas, and government) but none of this leads to answering the biggest question, “what do we need to change to make our electric grid the most reliable grid it can be?” BTW…it’s not cheap to increase a system’s overall reliability, but I’ve never heard of any utility company or oil & gas company going broke by doing the right thing. Takes huge investment, prolonged commitment and a real paradigm shift in how you operate the electric grid. The fact that many operators around the world have figured this out is cause for hope.

Are you a Texas resident? Unless you live in El Paso, which is part of the Western Grid, you get your power from the Texas grid, meaning you were left in the cold in February 2021, when historic cold resulted in a statewide power outage that may have resulted in 700 dead and caused billions of dollars in damages. This is the story of how one of the world’s energy providers ran out of energy for its own people - and largely, about how our state government failed us, and people died as a result. Listen to this pod, and then take action. Thank you to KUT and Mose Buchele for a fantastic work of investigative journalism.

Great investigative journalism. I learned more about what really happened. Why not a full episode one the law makers, specifically the governor’s lack of action. You did make some comments but I feel that there is more to that part the story.

This podcast deserves top accolades for excellence in journalism and sound editing. So well done. Thanks Mose Buchele for revealing what really happened and why.

I was so impressed by this podcast. They did a wonderful job explaining what happened and how we got here. Episode 3 had me in tears, they really captured what it was like to live through the blackout. I love to KUT team, but they outdid themselves here.

in depth story with lots of personal stories. i love KUT

As someone who lived through this, I’m glad this podcast provides the deep insight and analysis that our lawmakers are incapable or unwilling to do. There are so many shocking and telling moments that the team at KUT beautifully brought to light. Thank you so much for this phenomenal work.

Thank you for this series! It’s so important that we stay informed.

How did Texas get into the mess of February 2021’s mass power outages and resultant chaos? Were the people and organizations at fault held to account for it? (Spoiler: nope). The answers to these (and many other) essential questions pursued capably in this podcast. I will DEFINITELY be following for updates on this podcast as the story develops because Mose and Claire will cover it superbly.

History, perspective, and in-depth reporting delivered with style. Thank you to Mose Buckle and the entire team responsible for this fantastic podcast series. They’ve captured information that every Texan and anyone interested in utilities should know.

I enjoyed the series. nice work y’all!!

When the storm happened, my retired oil man dad kept saying to me (on the phone) : I don’t understand how this happened in Texas. Now I understand more. It makes me really sad for Texans. I love this state, and its government could give a **** about Texans.

Texans need to hear the excellent reporting and history that this podcast covers. I no longer live in the state but was there for the nightmarish winter blackout event because I was caring for my 96 yo father & his 94 yo girlfriend. My husband also still has family there & we were considering moving back to the state for that reason. That option is now permanently off the table. So grateful for this podcast in helping me to fully understand the history behind this past winter’s catastrophe. So many lives sacrificed on the altar of the market.

I’ve been waiting for this series. Having lived through it, I’m still unclear about how this fiasco occurred. These podcasts have helped me understand just how poorly state leadership’s response to the crisis was. So many dead, so much campaign cash filtered into the coffers of the very leaders that let our state fend for itself.

This is a great listen about how nuts the power fiasco in texas.

Lack of trust in Government drove us to where we are today with blackouts, freezing in ones own home and even deaths. But the story of why our blackout only heightens our own extended distrust in our Government. Career politicans, lobbist, our proud willingness to ‘Stand Alone’ and power through issues (no pun intended) and deregulation or at least the message created then supported by our legislators bashng deregulation, are all culprits. What is most amazing is that with dual blackouts (2011 & 2021) to use and study as ‘Case In Point’, not anything physically has been done to protect us from it happening again. Where or better yet, why is our Govenor…!?

They make dry policy history

Excellent podcast. They break down what happened in a really digestible format. I highly recommend.