Can SC’s electric grid handle a Texas-like winter storm? Lawmakers seek to calm fears
A South Carolina legislative panel aimed Tuesday to tamp down any concerns about the state’s electric grid system in the case of severe weather events after Texas dealt with a massive winter storm that shut off power for millions of people and drove up bills.
South Carolina’s utility companies and the agency responsible for regulating them also sought to drive distance between how the state manages its electricity business here versus the state of Texas, which was described by some as being on its own electric island.
Last month, freezing temperatures froze the Lone Star State’s natural gas supply lines and wind turbines effectively shutting down power generated by natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind and solar plants. As supply went down, customer demand shot up thereby creating that imbalance, explained Nanette Edwards, executive director of the Office of Regulatory Staff.
Unlike Texas, South Carolina is connected to power providers up and down the East Coast and can buy and sell power, Edwards said.
“We’re not Texas,” said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Luke Rankin, R-Horry, who sits on the Public Utilities Review Committee.
“That sense of Texas being an island without the ability to call their sister states is a huge difference in South Carolina. Though these other states are weathering the same bad weather, they’re not able to really import, share power,” Rankin said. “I’ve heard that over and over again: Texas is an island, don’t mess with Texas. We really don’t want to.”
After Texas’ energy crisis last month, Gov. Henry McMaster asked the state’s power providers to review the state’s power grids.
The governor sent a letter to Edward’s department asking her oversight agency to “undertake a comprehensive review of our state’s public and private power grid to evaluate its ability to withstand potential ice storms and other dangerous winter conditions.”
Edwards told the panel Tuesday a review will incorporate eight areas, including an assessment of vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
South Carolina has suffered consequences of bad weather.
In 2014, for example, a “polar vortex” swept across parts of the state, particularly Aiken County, causing thousands to lose power.
Edwards said those past storms have provided the state opportunities to go back and assess the state’s power systems.
“We are going to have weather events, and we are going to have outages,” Edwards said. “There are certainly opportunity for improvement. There are certainly areas that we should take a look at.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
