Austin residents and Texans at-large are feeling anxious about the arrival of Feb. 13, marking the one-year anniversary of the severe winter storm that blanketed much of the state with snow and ice and kept temperatures below freezing for about a week. 

The storm caused extended electrical cuts to homes and businesses, leaving many stranded at home struggling to stay warm or provide food for their families. The loss of electricity also impacted cities’ ability to effectively run their water treatment plants, resulting in the loss of reliable and safe water service for thousands of Texans for several days or even longer than a week in some cases. The winter weather and the loss of essential services has been blamed as the cause of death for at least 246 Texans based on a report by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The extended loss of electricity surprised many Texans and it has been described as a failure of the Texas electrical grid. The Texas electrical grid is separate from the United States electrical grid, as it is privatized. With this in mind, a big question is whether Texas is prepared for another storm if it happens again, as Texas relies on natural gas pipelines to power plants to generate electricity for homes and businesses. 

While other states share a protected power grid, Texas has its own power grid to only supply to us. Under criticism from angry Texans, Governor Abbott promised: “the lights will stay on” in an interview on Austin’s KBTC. While this was seen as a political tactic by some to finally improve our grid, Texas grid operators recently posted an update on Jan. 18 that “321 out of 324 electric generation units fully passed inspection for weatherization.”

Though this is an improvement from last year, many residents are still hesitant to feel relieved as Texas grid operators have lost the trust of Texans completely since last year’s storm. Not only were our systems far behind other states’ electrical grids in terms of stability, but there was also no move to improve the grid until people’s lives were lost. 

Proving our worries, Abbott speaks at a conference two months after his promise, “No one can guarantee there won’t be (power outages).” Following the conference, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas released information about how the expected gas supply won’t come during the freezing weather in a conference call. 

The anxiety of more misfortune has led some Texans to buy their own generators. While this seems like a good alternative if the power goes out, these generators can be dangerous if misused. With that in mind, people are still taking a risk to have the energy to get through another storm.

Texas had been wholly underprepared last year, and don’t seem to be pulling through with the promises they made in the aftermath.