Texas's power disaster is a warning sign for the US

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Texas's power disaster is a warning sign for the US
Transcript
00:00- [Presenter] In mid
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undefined:undefineddip as far South as it did.
00:18In Texas, where February
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undefined:undefinedminutes of a failure
00:51that would have lasted months.
00:54But even though the
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undefined:undefinedfrom the power grid,
01:14and that grid is getting the electricity
01:16from a bunch of different energy systems
01:18like nuclear power plants or wind farms
01:21or natural gas facilities.
01:24In the US these places are generally run
01:26by private energy companies
01:28that work with your local power utility,
01:30which directs the
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undefined:undefinedare on aren't just big,
01:45they're huge.
01:47The entire East coast from
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undefined:undefinedmachine humans have ever built.
02:00- [Presenter] While most
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undefined:undefinedfrom neighboring states
02:13and even Canada.
02:15This huge grid also means in emergencies
02:17power can be directed where it's needed.
02:20Like in Oklahoma,
02:21which was also hit bad during
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undefined:undefinedto send it to Texas.
02:37Texas opted out of the big grids
02:39back when they were being built
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undefined:undefinedTexas is on its own grid.
02:56It means they don't have to
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03:16Being on its own, Texas has
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undefined:undefinedplants went offline.
03:33Some wind turbines stopped
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undefined:undefinedsystem in cold temperatures.
04:02There are wind turbines
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undefined:undefinedextreme cold temperatures.
04:20- [Presenter] But it should
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undefined:undefineddid make those standards,
04:55but also made them voluntary
04:57so most companies didn't winterize.
05:00Private companies like these
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05:15may be a uniquely or
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undefined:undefinedin 1989 and the one in 2011,
05:36these costly disasters
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undefined:undefinednearly a hundred facilities
05:56like power plants in
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undefined:undefinedcommissions can require it
06:12as can state governments
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undefined:undefinedfacing the same problem.
06:31- It is a wake up call for everywhere
06:34to think about how do we prepare
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undefined:undefinedthinking about what's probable,
06:47but also what can break the system
06:49in a way that's catastrophic.
06:51(lively instrumental music)

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