Time to Prepare for Texas Blackouts? Black Out Big Energy Instead
February 1, 2023
In February 2021, Texas made national news for the prolonged power blackout residents faced. The need for power during the extreme weather was too much for the state’s power grid to handle, and many were left without heat or electricity for days. Without the support of the traditional utility companies or elected officials (Gov. Greg Abbott incorrectly blamed renewable energy for the outages) many Texans were left powerless literally and figuratively.
As we approach the second anniversary of the mass outages, it’s become increasingly clear that this failure was not a standalone incident. Even on “normal” summer days, authorities ask us all to conserve power and warn about brownouts. The traditional utility grid is struggling to keep up with modern demand and changing weather patterns.
Freedom Solar Power has teamed up with Austin-based agency CALLEN just in time to remind us that we don’t have to rely on big energy providers for power. The latest campaign, Be Most Powerful, from Freedom Solar Power is all about giving the power back to people by giving them energy independence.
The creative campaign shows a series of Texans doing what many of us wish we could – responding to a dreaded rolling blackout text. The tongue-in-cheek creative imagines a text message exchange where a fed-up Texan responds to ERCOT (the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas) warnings of power shortages with quips like “Is this a joke?” and accusing the organization of running a “scam.” As frustrated consumers continue to share their disappointment with big energy, you can’t help but begin to consider an alternative like Freedom Solar Power.
“We’re hoping to speak to the hilarity of the situation,” said Freedom Solar Power CEO Bret Biggart. “Texans can’t depend on the grid, and they get put into precarious situations with the weather here. But with solar power and backup batteries, Texans can be empowered to ignore those pesky ERCOT warnings and get on with their lives. Solar is the solution. We know it and ERCOT knows it. Let’s work together to solve Texas’s reliability issues!”
In February 2021, Texas made national news for the prolonged power blackout residents faced as a result of Winter Storm Uri. The demand for heat and power during the extreme temperatures was too much for the state’s power grid to handle, and millions were left without power or water as temperatures dipped far below freezing and stayed there for nine days. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, the storm contributed to the deaths of 246 people in 77 countries ranging in age from an infant to a 102-year-old.
Over the past two years, how Texans get their power has become a serious part of the mainstream conversation about energy reliability. Thousands of Texas homeowners and business owners have since decided solar energy is the solution for insulating themselves from blackouts and offsetting skyrocketing energy costs.
For the past two years, state officials have regularly traded blame for the power outages of 2021 and made a variety of claims to have improved the grid. But ERCOT, which manages 90% of the Texas electric load, continues to project uncertainty with its ongoing blackout warnings. Meanwhile, Texas electricity consumers are already seeing new monthly surcharges for securitization of the big power companies’ losses during the storm—charges that will remain on their bills for decades—and other surcharges may be added in the future. Multiple parties have sued ERCOT over costs associated with the storm in litigation that may last for years; if ERCOT loses, Texas electricity consumers will likely foot the bill for all costs the courts assign to ERCOT.
The “Be Most Powerful” campaign launched today in Texas statewide as a TV and digital ad campaign – marking the anniversary of the 2021 freeze and during the month Texans are most likely to revisit the emotional angst of freeze-warning texts. Our goal at Freedom Solar is to give power back to the people by showing homeowners how to take control of their electricity supply instead of relying solely on big energy providers.
