Marketplace All-in-One Texas' energy grid, 5 years after Winter Storm Uri
Feb 11, 2026
Elizabeth Troval, a Houston reporter on Texas energy infrastructure, and Julia Coronado, economist and UT Austin professor, join to unpack what's changed since Winter Storm Uri. They discuss grid failures and infrastructure fixes. They also examine surprising payroll numbers, Fed signals, labor trends, and how market design shapes energy reliability.
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Texans’ Personal Experience During Uri
- Ed Herz and Joshua Rhodes described losing power and most generation during Winter Storm Uri, leaving Texans with only hours of electricity each day.
- Elizabeth Troval reported widespread outages and fatalities, illustrating the human cost of grid failure.
Multiple Generation Types Failed Simultaneously
- The storm knocked offline natural gas, coal, nuclear and wind, showing broad vulnerability across generation types.
- Elizabeth Troval notes newer resources like storage and solar reduce reliance on fuel supply chains.
Infrastructure Upgrades Met Market Limits
- Many parts of the energy system have been winterized and now include more storage and solar to boost resilience.
- But market rules in Texas still discourage building extra capacity or reliability cushions.