AUSTIN, Texas — It's been a year since temperatures dropped, demand for electricity soared, and 4.5 million Texas homes and businesses lost power.
In this year's race for governor, voters are faced with two competing narratives.
"The Texas electric grid is more reliable, and more resilient than has ever been," said Governor Greg Abbott at a recent press conference.
"If we have a weather event like the one we have last February, we are going to have a shortfall in energy capacity," said Beto O'Rourke, who has made it one of the central focuses of his campaign to defeat Gov. Abbott.
"We've got to make changes, positive ones to ensure this never happens again, weatherizing every part of the grid, connecting with the national grid and making sure we assist ratepayers," said O'Rourke.
However, critics of O'Rourke's plan say connecting to the national grid isn't as easy as it sounds.
"So I know there is a responsible, common sense way to connect with the national grid as almost every other state does to make sure we satisfy our needs here," he said.
But O'Rourke's biggest challenge is the short-term memory of voters.
"The issue is that most voters are focused on COVID, the economy and their pocket books and the winter freeze, although it hits several of those notes, it's something that's in their rearview mirror," said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
Working in Governor Abbott's favor, the power grid holding up during this year's arctic blast. Two bills have been signed into law since the storm. Requiring power generators to winterize and reforming the state's grid operator ERCOT.
However, critics say the new laws didn't go far enough to ensure weatherization, leaving a loophole for natural gas companies to opt-out.
"There are still flaws in the system, I think what the governor is hoping is that those flaws aren't as pronounced and don't end up being front and center for voters," said Rottinghaus.
The governor's campaign declined our request for an interview. Meantime, O'Rourke is on a statewide "Keeping the lights on" tour, which ends tomorrow in Houston.