This week, Hurricane Beryl swept through Houston, causing approximately 2.26 million electric customers to lose power. Beryl hit the Texas coast as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday morning, the third major storm to hit the nation's fourth-largest city in less than two months. This is unprecedented, as far as we know, and a reminder of the ruthless ways in which climate change can rear its ugly head by intensifying storms.
Beryl hit the Texas coast as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday morning, the third major storm to hit the nation's fourth-largest city in less than two months. As far as we know, this is unprecedented.
On May 16 and 17, a straight-line wind of 100 mph hit Houston without attracting attention. It blew out thousands of windows in downtown skyscrapers, killed eight people and caused transmission towers to collapse, knocking out power to nearly 1 million customers. By the end of May, a damaging storm left 325,000 customers without power (approximately 875,000, by our calculations). Hit hard and weakened.
Also, this is a relatively wet year. Soft soil makes it easier for trees and power poles to collapse when wind blows. Maintenance crews often make temporary fixes to quickly restore power and develop plans for permanent repairs. In this case, it is unlikely that all repairs from the first two storms will be complete.
Then Beryl struck.
When hurricanes hit big cities, it's always dramatic, dangerous, and destructive. Houston is no stranger to hurricanes. But they don't typically strike with such force so early in the season, and never before has a hurricane struck so quickly on the heels of two other major storms.
The result is a crisis. Brief power outages can cause inconvenience, discomfort and disruption to the economy. But going without power for days during a heat wave can be deadly. The total loss of life and money was enormous.
It’s clear now: The weather has changed, but the grid hasn’t.
So what can innovators, markets, utilities, cities, states, and the federal government do to prepare for and recover from the storm?
It’s clear now: The weather has changed, but the grid hasn’t.
The first thing we need to realize is that much of our electrical grid was designed and built decades ago, when the weather was milder. The rapid succession of three major storms followed by a heat wave is unprecedented, but may be a preview of things to come. The stakes are high and we have solutions at hand that can be implemented.
So what can we do to better prepare for the next storm?
The first step after a crisis is acceptance. We need to understand that storms like this can happen and will happen more often. The Gulf of Mexico is warming as climate changes, and warmer oceans provide more fuel for hurricanes. Hurricane Beryl set several records, including being the only Atlantic Category 4 storm to form in June and being the strongest July hurricane we have ever seen.
We need better communication with those affected by the storm. In our modern world, we have come to expect rapid and near-constant lines of communication, especially in times like these. Even before the storm hit, utility outage maps were down, leaving people relying on the Whataburger Store app to find out which parts of the city had power. Although people only use outage tracking maps in rare circumstances, when they need them they do need their robustness.
We need to work to better model the impact of storms on the power industry. Utilities in the storm's path should model thousands of future hurricanes and their impact on the electric sector. Finding where these storms have overlapping areas of common damage and focusing grid strengthening efforts in those areas can reduce the impact of these storms when they eventually hit.
In the vast majority of cases, customers lose power because of damage to the distribution system, the thin wires and utility poles that provide the last mile of power to your home or business. These parts of our infrastructure are the most visible and are sometimes made more vulnerable by our own well-intentioned actions, such as resisting tree trimming efforts by local utility companies.
Although people only use outage tracking maps in rare circumstances, when they need them they do need their robustness.
While upfront costs are generally higher, we need to consider putting more electrical infrastructure underground and installing stronger poles, such as those made of concrete, steel or composite, in key areas where older, flimsy wooden poles are failing. Telephone poles made of material.
Despite our best efforts, we cannot guarantee that the system will not be affected by natural or human attacks. We should consider strategically deploying energy storage, solar, and microgrids (small power systems that can provide local power in the event of a larger grid failure) in particularly hazardous or critical areas. Although much of the power system was still down after Beryl, the sun rose again the next day, and the same sun that made conditions unbearable could be used to generate electricity where needed, as long as the infrastructure could store and store the power. Storms that use it are also hardened.
Building more efficient homes means they will remain at more comfortable and safe temperatures for longer after a power outage. We need to make sure there are plenty of places for those without power to access safe community cooling centres. For example: Schools equipped with solar panels can host those without power and provide a safe and healthy place for families to wait for power to be restored.
Ultimately, we must decide whether the investment in resiliency is worth it. Regulators and taxpayers tend to be hesitant to invest in better systems when interest rates rise. So instead of spending money, we often stick with fragile systems that may fail. However, it would be cheaper and fairer to purchase a better system that can more reliably withstand severe weather. It may feel more expensive upfront, but it saves money in terms of saving lives and avoiding outages and damage. It’s smart to save money up front, but the costs can be high when the system can’t withstand a storm.
Ultimately, intensified weather poses a threat to power systems and modern society, but we have solutions. We should implement them.
