Why Texas Went Dark
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2021
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over the last week, millions of Texans have been forced to live without power or heat. At least 16 have died since Monday. In a state that’s no stranger to extreme weather and high power demand, how did it all go so wrong?
Guest:
Josh Rhodes, research associate at the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin
Host
Lizzie O’Leary
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, Slate Podcast listeners. |
| 0:02.9 | Help us make a better Slate by answering our survey. |
| 0:06.1 | It'll only take a few minutes, and you can find it at slate.com slash survey. |
| 0:12.0 | All right, here's the show. |
| 0:18.0 | When I got Josh Rhodes on the line on Wednesday, he was at his friend's mom's house west of Austin, |
| 0:23.7 | because his friend's mom still had power. |
| 0:26.6 | Like millions of other Texans, Josh didn't. |
| 0:30.1 | The massive winter storm that has devastated Texas knocked out power where he lives in Austin. |
| 0:35.3 | We lost power at about 2 a.m. on Monday. |
| 0:38.4 | I really didn't notice until about when I woke up the next morning, somewhere around 6, |
| 0:43.5 | you know, and nothing was on as that eerie silence. |
| 0:47.7 | He stumbled around in that silence, found flashlights and candles, and then improvised a morning |
| 0:53.8 | routine. I do a lot of camping. I've got camping stoves, and then improvised a morning routine. |
| 0:54.8 | I do a lot of camping. I've got camping stoves, and I was able to, we were able to make breakfast, |
| 0:59.0 | and I found a hand crank for coffee where it was able to make coffee. And then we're just |
| 1:04.3 | trying to figure out what's going on when we're going to get power again. |
| 1:08.9 | After more than a day of no power, |
| 1:12.4 | the temperature inside Josh's house was hovering in the 50s. |
| 1:14.5 | And Josh is comparatively lucky, |
| 1:16.9 | given what other Texans are facing. |
| 1:20.9 | People here, |
| 1:22.2 | they're literally freezing to death. |
... |
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