Powerless: NBC 5 Investigates the Texas Electric Crisis

From new records revealing the causes of the massive February power outages to new interviews revealing potential solutions, NBC 5 Investigates digs in to get to the bottom of the state's power problems in this ongoing streaming series - available below.

Millions of Texans were without power – freezing, even dying, in homes with no heat. How did it happen in a state that's considered the power capital of the world?

From the first day of the February storm, NBC 5 Investigates has questioned officials, requested thousands of pages of documents, and traveled across the state, and even the country, searching for answers to how the crisis happened.

Now, in the series "Powerless," our reporting reveals why Texans received no clear warning that widespread power outages were on the way or that people could be without electricity for days.

In the videos below, we expose the power plants and companies that left Texas in the dark twice, not only in February but also in a previous winter storm in 2011. We travel to a harsh winter climate to see what Texas could do to make its power grid, and even wind power, more reliable. And we press state officials about whether their plans to fix the problems will really prevent another electric crisis in the future.

Ongoing episodes of the series below will be added as our team continues to pursue the truth about this Texas tragedy that cost more than 150 lives and resulted in an estimated $100-200 billion in damage.

View the full series now in a number of ways:


Why were Texans caught off guard by the massive power outages during February's winter storm?

Texas power companies promised to fix problems to prevent more power outages during a winter storm in 2011. But it happened again this year.

They live through brutal winters, year after year. But the lights stay on. NBC 5 investigates what Texas can learn from colder states to prevent future disasters.

NBC 5 Investigates traveled to a frigid wind farm to see how Texas could make wind power more reliable before the next winter storm.

NBC 5 Investigates shows how ERCOT underestimated the amount of power Texans would need in the winter and how that could spell trouble this summer.

It’s the chicken or the egg question of the year in Texas. Gas or electricity? Which one was first to trigger more widespread power outages across the state during the February winter storm? NBC5 Investigates has examined hundreds of pages of industry records and talked to experts on both sides of the fence and it seems clear both share responsibility for what happened. The question now is how much both sides will share in the solutions?

Other Reports From NBC 5 Investigates

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