Back

Director's Picks

5 things to know about potential causes of Texas’s power crisis

Summary

A Texas state Senate committee criticized CenterPoint, a major Houston-area utility, over its handling of Hurricane Beryl, which left millions without power. Senators attributed the extensive outages and associated fatalities to structural failures and poor preparations by CenterPoint. Issues included inadequate communication with customers, insufficient tree trimming, and ineffective use of expensive mobile generators. The hearing highlighted broader systemic problems within Texas’s deregulated electricity market, where utilities like CenterPoint face little competition and can pass infrastructure costs onto ratepayers. The ongoing investigation seeks to address these issues and improve grid resilience amidst increasingly severe weather events.

discover more

September 6, 2024
Energy Justice
Energy Justice

A new study published in *WIREs Climate Change* reveals the extensive influence of fossil fuel companies on university climate research, uncovering hundreds of cases where oil fun

September 6, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

Houston City Council will vote on an amendment to remove the requirement for developers of single-family homes to build sidewalks or pay a fee-in-lieu.

September 6, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

Texas has overtaken California as the leading state for utility-scale solar power capacity, reaching 21.9 gigawatts in the second quarter of 2024, according to the American Clean

September 5, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) has launched the Air Quality Management Exchange Platform (AQMx) to assist global efforts in addressing air pollution.

September 5, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

A global study led by Helmholtz Munich reveals that health risks from air pollution have remained high, despite reduced levels of pollutants like PM10, PM2.5, and NO2 from 1995 to

September 5, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP due to the impacts of climate change, according to Simon Stiell, UNFCCC's Executive Secretary.

September 4, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

A new study published in Nature reveals that the world produces 57 million tons of plastic pollution annually, with over two-thirds originating from the Global South.

September 3, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

Four years after Hurricanes Laura and Delta hit Lake Charles, Louisiana, thousands of residents remain displaced, raising concerns about the U.S. Census' ability to track populati

September 1, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

A report from Oil Change International (OCI) reveals that the U.S. has spent over $12 billion in subsidies on unproven climate solutions like carbon capture and storage (CCS) and

July 30, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

Two years after the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law, a report by the Rocky Mountain Institute reveals that states are underutilizing the available federal fundin

August 29, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

Following Hurricane Beryl, Houston's response to the ensuing heat crisis was critically slow, particularly in vulnerable communities of color.

August 29, 2024
Energy Justice
Energy Justice

PowerSecure, a leader in distributed energy infrastructure, announced its Durham, NC campus microgrid will now run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a 100% renewable fuel.

August 29, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

As climate change drives more extreme heat waves across the U.S., prisoners in states with traditionally milder climates are now facing life-threatening conditions similar to

August 28, 2024
Energy Justice
Energy Justice

The rapid decline in solar power costs is transforming the global energy landscape. Jenny Chase of BloombergNEF highlights that by 2030, solar power could be free during sunny per

August 28, 2024
Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice

UN Special Rapporteur Marcos Orellana's recent report condemns the severe environmental pollution in South Africa, attributing it to corporate greed and governmental negligence.