Appearing Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned that the nation’s adversaries possess the capabilities of shutting down the power grid in the United States.
The CEO of the agency that operates Texas’s power grid gave no timeline on when power would be restored to the more than 3 million Texans experiencing blackouts as icy conditions cripple the region.
Millions of Texans woke up in the dark Tuesday after a fierce winter storm blasted the state, limiting natural gas access and freezing wind turbines. But the vulnerabilities of the state’s power grid are not just an infrastructure issue, notes to The New York Times.
The image of energy-rich Texas is under challenge as a historic polar vortex slows or shuts down power sources like wind and natural gas.
The state of Amapá, Brazil — on the nation’s northeastern border — has had nearly no access to electricity after a storm took out its power grid on November 3. As of Thursday, government officials say 80 percent of the state will have some electricity, but residents complain that they are now running out of food and water, rationing drinking water and foregoing showers.
The Department of Energy announced on Sunday it will use its authority to intervene in the management of the California power grid after a heat wave failure.
