The worst energy infrastructure failure in Texas history occurred in February 2021. It was triggered by three massive winter storms that blew through the state in quick succession throughout a 10-day period, knocking out power to more than 4.5 million homes and businesses, and repairs took more than a week to complete, leaving many residents without heat as the state experienced subzero temperatures.
At the University of Texas at Austin, however, the lights never dimmed. While most of the rest of the state faced an unprecedented and extremely dangerous power disruption, UT Austin’s 160-building, 40-acre campus kept the power on thanks to a microgrid. The Carl J. Eckhardt Combined Heat and Power plant, which has provided energy to the college campus since 1929, is one of the largest microgrids in the United States.
UT Austin’s experience during the infamous crisis of 2021 makes a fantastic case for microgrids as an alternative to traditional energy infrastructure pl