February 17, 2021. On Tuesday, large parts of the central and southern United States were without power. Texas was the worst hit, with over 4 million people affected. The blackouts were the result of a power grid not designed for the cold, unprepared grid operators and a lack of backup capacity. How climate change could continue to cripple the U.S. power grid in the future is described by Brad Plumer in the New York Times.