About the Report and the Beyond Storms Infrastructure Network Resilience (INR) Task Committee
The ASCE Texas Beyond Storms INR Task Committee members are technical experts within their respective practice area(s). The team is a combination of public servants, private consultants, and educators. Past Texas Infrastructure Report Card Committee member, Geoff Roberts serves as the Chair of the Committee. Executive Director Jenni Peters, CAE serves as the staff point of contact for the committee. You are welcome to contact the ASCE Texas Section office with any questions about the committee.
The 25-member committee collected and complied state-wide data, developing a written report for each sector, then analyzed the available information to put forth recommended actions for focused improvements. Building on the overarching recommendations, the committee also felt it important to offer more targeted, sector-specific actions and investments needed to enhance the reliability of the network. All of this and more can be found in the Executive Summary and Full Report links above.
Thank You
At the peak of Winter Storm Uri, members of the ASCE Texas Section began to informally review the impacts of the storm on critical infrastructure. This effort quickly became formalized with the formation of the Beyond Storms Infrastructure Resilience Task Committee, tasked with the responsibility of analyzing what happened during the storm and, from that analysis, propose recommendations to improve the reliability and resilience of this critical infrastructure in the future. The team is composed of volunteer engineers from across the State of Texas and represent various infrastructure sector experts (power, energy, water, telecommunications, and transportation), with a specialized sub-team focused on weather and network level issues that arose from disconnects between the infrastructure sectors.
Countless hours and commitments have been made by these volunteers, and as Texans, we owe them a debt of gratitude and thanks.
Report Presentations and Interviews
Have a question about the Reliability & Resilience in the Balance Report or want to know how your community can help? Contact us using one of the options below.
- Members of the media or to request an audience with an ASCE Texas spokesperson, please contact: Jenni Peters, Executive Director at 512-910-2272 or [email protected].
- Looking for a speaker from ASCE Texas to speak on this Report, please contact: Jenni Peters, Executive Director at 512-910-2272 or [email protected].
Sample Presentation Abstract:
Title: Reliability and Resilience in the Balance: A vision beyond Winter Storms Uri Viola
Brief Abstract: In the aftermath of the 2021 Winter Storms Uri and Viola, and the near collapse of the Texas Electrical Power Generation and Distribution Grid, 25 members of the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) volunteered to undertake the responsibility of analyzing the collective infrastructure failures. Over the next 12 months, the group investigated the separate and integrated operations of natural gas production and transport, electrical power generation and distribution, telecommunications operations, water and wastewater operations, transportation systems, weather history, and the interaction of all the systems of infrastructure when stressed by extreme weather events. The recommendations for dramatically improving the reliability and resilience of the Texas Electrical Power Generation and Distribution system associated with these extreme events were offered to the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUC/PUCT) in October of 2021, and the formal report (123 pages) released to the public on February 16, 2022—on the 1-year anniversary of the storms. Our presentation highlights the key findings and recommendations of this effort.
