Five years on from the winter storm
that caused blackouts across much of
the state of Texas.
What has been done to address the
failures of that blackout?
And are we here in Austin ready for
the next big winter test of the
power grid?
More about what has and has
not happened since February of 2021.
That is coming up on today's show.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
Plus, there is an argument to be
made that the Lieutenant Governor of
Texas is the most
influential elected official in the
state.
Republicans have held the position
for nearly three decades.
We'll hear about the candidates
running to represent Texas Democrats
in this fall's election and
what happens to love when memories
fade away.
Hear how one woman in Pflugerville
is doing her best to keep love alive
through music.
That's coming up next here on Austin
Signal.
Howdy out there, you are tuned in
to Austin Signal.
It is Friday the 13th.
I'm Jerry Keechanel.
Five years ago, folks here in Austin
got what at first seemed like a
nice, fun dusting of snow,
the kind that makes for a winter
wonderland here in Texas.
Here's KUT's Mo's Bouchelle five
years ago last night.
So this is the beginning.
A couple weeks after the big
blackout, I found this video
in my phone.
Well, it might be a historic
winter storm here
in Austin.
It's from the night before the power
went out. When I found it, I didn't
even remember recording it.
Just started down here.
Or exactly who I was recording it
for. I know I was really
excited about the snow.
I love this.
But when I listen back, this
sounds corny.
I get chills because
of this last thing I say right
here. Big question for a lot of
people right now is whether the
electric grid's gonna hold up.
We didn't know then about the coming
blackouts that would throw the state
into confusion and cause
hundreds of deaths.
On the five-year anniversary of that
storm, we're talking with Moe's
Bouchelle. Moe has been doing some
special reporting for the Texas
newsroom and has served for more
than a decade as KUT's energy
and environment correspondent, and
he hosts the podcast, The Disconnect
Power, Politics, and the Texas
Blackout.
Moe, thank you for being with us.
Pleasure, Jerry.
Obviously now we've dealt with
the repercussions of the storm,
but at the time, how realistic was
it that we might experience a
blackout of that magnitude?
Nobody expected something that
bad happening.
I think that's fair to say.
There was in fact I think a fair
amount of confidence
in some of the years leading up to
21 that ERCOT had started
to get a handle on some of its cold
weather problems.
And obviously that confidence was
proven to be absolutely unfounded.
But we had a much smaller
kind of state outage,
rolling outage blackout in 2011
that prompted some
people to start thinking about this
and prompted some
kind of suggestions
from federal regulators
as well over how to protect the grid
against cold weather.
Clearly, those lessons weren't
learned as well as they thought
they were.
So when this massive storm
rolled in,
we were just knocked over.
This is covered in the podcast that
you did for KUT and KUTX studios,
The Disconnect.
I was listening back to the first
episode this morning and you
talk about sort of
there being knowledge of what the
problem was, but not as much
being done to address the
problem.
Since the storm five years ago, what
has been done to winterize the grid
since
I think that the main thing that
everyone points to are standards
for essentially
insulating power plants.
A lot of things went wrong all at
once during that blackout,
but one of those things was that
the gas power plants and other
energy generators too just weren't
prepared for that level of cold and
also the freezing rain, and so
they literally broke down.
After 21, the
state finally created
regulations to prepare power plants
for cold weather.
That alone is like one of the most
demonstrable kind of things that you
can point to and say uh...
We have done this now and so power
plants are supposed to be better
better equipped for for freezing
weather they are inspected to make
sure that they're preparing for
freezing whether that is one thing
you can point to say yes texas has
done this
And in the five years since the
storm, have we seen a real test of
it that would be comparable to what
happened in 2021?
Yeah, I have a story about this just
up on the web today.
We haven't, we've seen big
freezes, we've see big winter
storms. And what we see every time
it happens is everybody gets really
panicked, right? We all worry, I
think understandably after what
people went through in 21.
But when you compare any
of these big storms to the
big winter storm in 21, none
of the big storms we've since then
have come close to the magnitude
of that storm.
And I'm talking in terms of how cold
it got, how long it stayed that
cold, just the massive amounts
of freezing precipitation.
And also importantly for the
power grid, the size.
I mean, this thing covered the
entire state of Texas for
days. That means that the entire
State was trying to
draw power off the grid all
at once. And when that happens,
that's when you have problems on the
energy system because everybody
wants power and well,
hey, what's happening? The power
plants are shutting down.
That was the formula that
led to this disaster.
And as we learn through this
disaster, this grid is
uniquely Texan and its connections
and its capabilities.
Is this problem though of the
potential for blackouts, is that
uniquely Texin?
Uh... So you know one thing that i i
i find interesting is that there
seems to be a kind of growing
anxiety over power grids across the
country and uh...
In a way texas may have gotten there
first uh...
We are seeing uh...
Increasingly urgent warnings from
that national regulators uh...
And and people that watch power
grits saying that that regional
grids are aging,
there is not a lot
of excess capacity
energy that might be drawn on
in an emergency, in a weather
emergency, and there are all these
weaknesses that they have identified
that they recommend
should be fixed.
Here I'm actually thinking
specifically of a recent report out
from the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation saying
that many grids across the
country are at high
of having energy shortages
in extreme events.
And the question is,
what do you do about it?
Moza, I mentioned the podcast that
you did for KUT and KUTx, the
disconnect for a listener who might
not be familiar.
What do you cover in that podcast?
I mean, we try to look at
everything, the world of
energy systems and power grids is a
complicated one.
It's also a very political one,
especially in Texas, I think
I could say.
And we
tell the history of the Texas grid.
Why do we have our own power grid?
Something a lot of people say should
be changed.
We should link up with other grids.
Why is the grid so
dependent on natural gas here and
has been for much longer than a lot
of the rest of the country?
Things like that and so,
and much more.
And so we tell that story
to try to explain
how this just this
massive disaster could could
happen.
In many ways, a human cause disaster
could happen in the energy capital
of the country in Texas.
And it's still it still
resonates today because people you
know people like like we said people
still think about this people are
still worried.
And the reality is,
we have not had a storm like that
since.
And so...
Uh, you talk to analysts and
they'll say, you know, some things
have been improved.
Uh, other things have not improved.
There are new challenges and we
won't really know where we stand
until we get another storm of
that magnitude.
And no one wants that to happen.
We have been speaking with Moe's Boo
Shell. He is the host of The
Disconnect. He is KUT's energy
and environment reporter and he has
been doing some special reporting
for the Texas Newsroom.
We're gonna have a link to all of
his reporting in the show notes for
today's podcast and you can find
more at kut.org
slash signal.
Moe, thank you. Thank you, Jerry.
The lieutenant governor of Texas is
arguably the most influential
elected official in the state.
It's also a job that's been held by
Republicans since 1999,
most recently by Dan Patrick,
who's been in the role for 11 years.
But Democrats are hoping to give
Patrick a run for his money this
November.
First though, Texas Dems have to
decide who they're gonna put on the
ballot against him.
Three candidates are vying for the
nomination in the party's primary
next month.
The Texas newsroom's Blaise Ganey
introduces us to them and explains
why the spot is highly sought
after.
In Texas, the lieutenant governor's
job includes presiding over the
state Senate, selecting key
committee leadership roles, even
deciding which bills live or
die. In all, the role here wields
an almost unusual amount of
authority. Brandon Rottinghouse is a
University of Houston political
scientist.
The Texas Lieutenant Governor is one
of the top five most powerful in the
country.
And that power has only expanded
since Lieutenant Governor Dan
Patrick took office.
Patrick's iron-fisted approach has
shaped some of the state's most
contentious recent policy fights,
from school vouchers to gambling.
Now, three Democrats are fighting to
be the one on the ballot against the
incumbent Republican later this
year, software company manager
Courtney Head, Marcos Velez,
a labor advocate, and state
representative Vicki Goodwin.
We've had 30 years of Republican
leadership, and it's time for
change.
Since 2019, Goodwins represented
her Austin area district in the
Texas House, where she serves on the
Appropriations Committee.
Under Republicans, she says public
schools are suffering.
I want to make sure that we're
funding them appropriately,
that we are not diverting our public
tax dollars to private schools,
that were supporting our teachers,
our students, and a system
that serves over 90% of the
kids in Texas.
She also argues the state's current
leaders aren't listening to the
public, pointing to Dan Patrick's
push last year to ban THC
products.
We had over 600 people come
to the Capitol to testify against
the ban on THC, and you don't
see that very often, you don't those
numbers.
Goodwin says she supports fully
legalizing marijuana.
We ought to treat marijuana, THC,
what have you, the same as we do
alcohol.
That's something she and fellow
candidate Marcos Velez agree on.
Velez grew up outside of Houston and
worked in oil refineries, eventually
organizing around workplace safety.
He says affordability, especially
for young workers, is what pushed
him to run for
I look at my son now,
college-educated, he delivers
pizzas, and I'm not knocking my son.
What I'm saying is, even with
$100,000 education,
you can't secure $100k a year job.
Wages haven't kept pace with
productivity in that Texas isn't
prioritizing policies that help
everyday workers.
Besides marijuana, he supports
legalizing gambling.
There's all these different things
that we could legalize, we could
regulate, and we can use the profit
from those things to bring
people's property taxes down.
The high property taxes in Texas is
a goal shared by Democrats and
Republicans, and Dan Patrick has
been a main driver for it at the
Capitol. But despite big swings by
Texas lawmakers, many homeowners
here say it's not enough.
Velez also points to Patrick's
stance against gambling, something
Velez does not agree with.
Lez says ignores reality.
The third Democrat in the race,
Courtney Head, is a San
Antonio-based software professional.
She also supports legalizing
cannabis, plus expanding Medicaid,
repealing school vouchers, and
investing in high-speed rail.
But all three face a major obstacle,
money.
Patrick reports he has roughly $38
million on hand for his
re-election campaign.
By comparison, Goodwin has about
159,000, Velez
around 46,000 and Head
just a few hundred dollars.
Which Roddinghouse says will make it
tough to compete.
Of the ability to advertise
and to convince people that you
have a better policy set than your
opponent, then it's just hard
for them to really understand why
you're running and to know in
fact that you're running
Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas
Democratic Party, remains optimistic
on the lieutenant governor's race.
Republicans are always going to have
more money than us.
That's just life.
They are the party of the
billionaires and we are the party of
people.
In the recent win for Democrats in
Texas Senate District 9 is giving
the party hope.
In that special election, the
Republican candidate spent $2
million more than the Democratic
fictor. Scudder says that shows
two things.
Voters aren't happy.
And number two, there's a ceiling to
what it.
Packs this money has.
Meanwhile, the incumbent appears
unconcerned.
Patrick's already rolling out his
plans for the next legislative
session in 2027, which
include more property tax cuts.
Early voting for the party primaries
in Texas begins February 17th.
I'm Blaise Ganey in Austin.
And we'll have more Austin Signal
for you after this
break.
Happy Friday, this is
Austin Signal.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day,
so today we've got a love story for
ya. It's about a couple in
Pflugerville, Clyde and Cassandra
Loftus.
This is a story about what happens
when memories fade and how
to hold on to them.
Here is KUT's Matt Largie.
The story begins with a workplace
romance.
Do you remember the first time that
you met Cassandra?
This is Clyde.
Yeah, yeah.
She was walking down.
You came into the office and then.
And then the office, yeah, and
then what?
My brain's gone.
This is Cassandra.
Yeah, we just met like
co-workers, you know, oh this is
Clyde, this is Cass, I...
Cassandra and Clyde eventually
started dating.
Cassandra knew he was a keeper.
He was.
Brilliant, very, very smart
man,
and funny, and
those beautiful blue eyes,
and his kindness and his
generosity.
I got to see all of that and
wanted to have that.
They got married in 2009.
It was a small ceremony.
Now, there's something you need to
know. Clyde had been playing guitar
since he was eight years old.
My dad had played guitars
and uncles,
and then I got into really
hard metal and
stuff.
Clyde had always had dreams of being
a rock star.
Brought his guitar with him when he
served in the Navy.
Started bands with his friends.
The music was part of him.
I'm not bragging, but I can play
like hell.
So when it came time for Cassandra
and Clyde's first dance,
Clyde had a song, their own
original song, written and
performed by Clyde.
Yeah, he had a song recorded
for our first dance and the most
amazing, wonderful thing.
So they were married, they made a
life together, and for a few years
there things were pretty good.
They had their struggles, but
nothing out of the ordinary.
We didn't go into this relationship
thinking, you know, everything was
gonna be all beautiful and rainbows.
It'd be nice, but it's not reality.
Around 2018, nine years
into their marriage, Cassandra
started to see changes in Clyde.
She'd tell him something or ask him
to do something and he wouldn't
remember.
She chalked it up to typical husband
not listening to his wife kind of
stuff.
But a co-worker of ours came
up to me and said, yeah, there's
something off about Clyde.
He's forgetting his tasks.
He's getting agitated at people.
And things kept getting worse.
I mean, he would come to me at work
and ask me to help him with his
work.
They knew something was wrong, but
not exactly what.
He had to quit his job.
There were doctor's appointments, so
many appointments.
Finally, they got a diagnosis.
It was dementia, specifically
Alzheimer's.
I understand it,
and I'm not mad.
Now, at first it was.
With her and me,
there's nothing, no, there is no
way.
Way to get hurt, you
know. They did clinical trials,
but nothing worked.
Clyde has lost a lot of
what made him who he is.
His math skills, language skills,
the words just won't come out much
of the time.
I'm a kid.
He even stopped playing music.
It's got to be so hard to be
in his head,
to not be able to just do
what you normally do and be
who you really are.
I mean, he looks at a lot of
pictures of himself and he thinks
about all of the people he has
been, all of men he has be,
and he's just trying to hold on
to who he was, you know,
and it's hard.
But there is a version of Clyde
that hangs on.
Now this is pretty cool.
He shows me into his home studio.
He's so excited to show
me.
It's acoustic and electric.
There are a half dozen guitars
hanging on the walls and on stands.
Four years after he put his music
down, he picked it back up.
I love hearing him play, but it's
kind of bittersweet because I
was there when he was at his peak
and he was so amazing.
So it's hard to see him with
these smaller bits, but he's just so
happy that he's playing.
Watching him play last July,
Clyde is in the zone.
He looks more confident than I've
seen so far, but he also seems
a little unsteady.
As you see the changes
in someone's dementia,
you are mourning losses
of small things every
day.
And to see him get up
and say, I'm going in the studio or
stay up all night, screaming
those speakers like crazy is
just pure joy.
It makes my heart happy.
Clyde says coming back to the guitar
has been therapeutic for him,
but getting started again wasn't
easy.
I don't want to be crude, but
I just said, you know what?
F*** that.
Do it. You can do it.
You know?
If I get bored,
I go into that studio and
make some noise.
I don't think, I
just let it go.
It's in me, you know it is.
It's six months later now.
I come back in January, 2026.
When I get inside, I can tell
instantly that something is
different.
Cassandra seems tired.
Clyde is quieter.
Things have gotten worse.
Some days he's almost nonverbal.
Um, somebody else had to tell me
that because your
brain fills in the
blanks of the conversation.
I feel like we've been having like
amazing intellectual conversations,
but he says one or two words.
Clyde's memory is declining fast.
Sometimes he looks Cassandra right
in the face and asks where she
is.
She tells him she's right there.
She's not going anywhere.
He asked me to marry him over and
over and over again and I always say
yes, right babe?
Whenever you ask me to marry you, I
say yes, don't I?
He hardly touches his guitars
anymore.
A while back, Clyde told Cassandra
he wanted them to write a song
together.
Clyde just said, hey, let's, we
need to write a love song.
We need to ride our story.
Like a sequel to the song he wrote
for Cassandra for their first dance
as a married couple, but this time
with words.
Clyde would provide the music,
or at least a recording he made
years ago, the music we're hearing
now.
Cassandra would write and sing the
lyrics. She agonized over
the words, wrote a draft and tossed
it out.
It was all wrong.
It was purely just my
grieving.
And then it developed into,
okay, so how did we meet?
How did we build our life together?
Three more drafts later, she thinks
she's found the words, but then
she's also not sure that it'll ever
be finished.
It's called We Are So Lucky.
Were you, were you
And I was me and
we were so
lucky
Does it sound perfect?
No, Cassandra is the first
to admit that.
But that, of course, is not the
point.
Like any love story, this love
song has its flaws.
The point of a love song is to sound
real, to sound like you mean the
words.
But even when the person they're
meant for doesn't always recognize
you, you still feel it.
Remember us in
your dreams tonight
Remember me
in the morning
We are Cass
and Clyde
And we will be
until the end of
time
We are
so lucky
We should all be so lucky.
I love you, bubba!
In Pflugerville, I'm Matt Largi.
That is it for this week here
on Austin Signal.
Thank you for spending some time
with us. You can find more from this
week of shows at kut.org
slash signal.
Kristen Cabrera is our managing
producer and Rayna Sevilla is
our technical director.
I'm your host, Jerry Kikano.
We will be back with you on Monday.
Have a lovely weekend.