https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3xyex/solar-was-only-energy-source-to-outperform-expectations-during-texas-blackout > At the height of Winter Storm Uri in February, at least 4.5-million Texas homes were without power. As blackouts scattered the state and surrounded urban hubs like Fort Worth, Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Texans were forced to get creative to get by. Some, left without heat, used their ovens and cars to stay warm. Others, left without clean water, boiled what came from their faucets and melted snow. > The outages were a way for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s grid operator, to reduce load on an energy system under strain. As it hurdled toward full-on collapse, “load shed” (strategic blackouts to reduce use of the grid) was the only way to prevent the whole system from going dark, operators say.