In this bonus episode, you’ll hear a panel of experts we brought together to mark two years since the 2021 blackout, where we discuss the future of the Texas grid in the face of climate change and the increasingly extreme weather linked to it.
A plan to overhaul the Texas grid has set up a showdown at the state Capitol
The plan would raise prices and carbon dioxide emissions, and critics say it may not bring reliability.
The City of Austin has a dilemma: What to do with 32 fighting roosters
At the Austin Animal Center, crowding is the normal order of things. People from all over the region bring stray cats and dogs to the city — even if they’re not supposed to — because of its “no kill” animal policy. But the center recently got an influx of a different kind, leaving staff and volunteers with a conundrum.
What to do with 32 fighting roosters.
The roosters came to the center from the Austin Police Department, which had seized them after a cockfighting bust. They’re currently being held in two parts of the building: some on display in kennels usually reserved for cats or dogs, and many more in the loading bay, each assigned its own crate.
Railroad Commission candidates offer opposing visions of what will make oil and gas industry ‘healthy’
The Railroad Commission of Texas has been called one of the most consequential climate-related offices in the country. Democrat Luke Warford is challenging incumbent Wayne Christian for his seat.
The Campaign
Nearly two years after the big blackout in Texas, how big of an issue is the power grid in the 2022 race for governor?
We talk with Julian Aguilar, a reporter for the Texas Newsroom.
The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in the state. It received support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The Midnight Connection
We’ve already learned how Texas (or at least most of it) is an energy island — mostly cut off from grids in other states.
In this episode, we’ll hear about the time when one power company went rogue and threw a transmission line across the Oklahoma border.
This is the story of why they tried and how they failed to build a bridge off the island — and how it shaped the Texas grid today.
The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in the state. It received support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
BONUS: The Megawatt We Don’t Use
We’ve talked about the supply-side fixes — but what about the demand side?
The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in the state. It received support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The Fixes
A year and a half after the blackout, lots of Texans are still wondering if they can rely on the power grid. After conservation alerts and one pretty close call this summer, it can seem like the grid is still on a knife’s edge. We look at what’s changed, what hasn’t and how that lack of trust is playing out in one Texan’s life.
The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in the state. It received support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The Money
Texans have seen their electric bills rise dramatically since the blackouts last year. We’ll break down all the links in the electric supply chain that each need to get paid — and explain how we’ll still be paying the costs of the blackout for decades to come.
The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in the state. It received support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The Toll
In the time since the blackout, state officials, ERCOT and power generators have tried to convince Texans that they’ve got things under control. But a lot of people aren’t convinced. And with good reason. In this episode, we’ll explore how the trauma of the blackout is still with us — and how we still haven’t dealt with the true toll of the disaster. We’ll hear from one family who lost an entire generation.
The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in the state. It received support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Eklektikos host John Aielli, who flew by the seat of his pants, dies at 76
Aielli’s stream-of-consciousness style of presenting could feel improvised, chaotic. But that chaos was integral to the magic he created. KUT’s Mose Buchele has this remembrance.
Bonus: The Winterizing
Texas lawmakers passed a law earlier this year requiring power plants to winterize — but what does that really mean?
And what about winterizing other things that are needed to make sure the lights don’t go out in a storm again?
The Fallout
So what did state leaders do to make sure something like the February blackout never happens again?
And what role did deregulation play in the failure of the Texas power grid?
Find a full transcript of this episode here.
Bonus: The Great Dam Disaster
A huge catastrophe. Dozens dead. A city without power or water. It’s like a miniature version of the February blackouts.
Except this happened more than 100 years ago in Texas — and leaders faced some of the same questions then as they do now.
Bonus: The Black Start
In this mini-episode, we tell what happens next if the Texas power grid were to suffer a catastrophic failure. It almost did in February — and if it had happened, there might have been an even bigger problem.
Find a full transcript of this episode here.
The Blackout
The story of how the worst blackout in Texas history unfolded — and left millions of people cold, hungry and with no faith in their state’s power grid.
A warning: Some of what you’ll hear in this episode may be disturbing, especially if you lived through this disaster.
Find a full transcript of this episode here.
The Energy Island
It was only when the lights went out in Texas that many of us realized — electrically — we are all alone. Claire McInerny brings us that story. Plus, Jimmy Maas tells us how the electricity market in Texas used to work up until about 20 years ago.
Find a full transcript of this episode here.
Trailer: The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout
Join us as we explore the reasons and decisions that ultimately left millions of Texans in the dark during the crippling winter storm of February 2021. KUT’s Mose Buchele reports on what happened, how we got the electric grid we have today and what could be done to fix it in this limited series podcast.
12th & Chicon: Growing Up on the East Side
The neighborhoods in East Austin looked a lot different in the 1980s and 90s. Two childhood friends who grew up near 12th and Chicon reflect upon their youth, their struggles and the mistakes they made. They wonder if the crime of yesteryear in their community lead to its gentrification.
12th & Chicon: The Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex
The murder of 16-year-old Tamika Ross in East Austin in 1992 started a journey for social justice that would take seven long years to complete. The history of the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex may not be well known, but its impact is felt and appreciated throughout the community.