Skip to main content Currently Reading ERCOT was minutes from a 'black start' that would have killed power, cell signals in Texas for weeks FacebookTwitterEmail The ERCOT command center in Taylor. Bill Magness, ERCOT's president and chief executive, said extreme cold knocked about half of the grid's electricity generation offline, or 52,277 megawatts out of 107,514 megawatts of total installed capacity.Laura Skelding, Staff Photographer / Austin American-Statesman Last week's winter storm strained the Texas grid more than ever before, bringing it dangerously close to a "black start" event that could have taken weeks to fix, grid operators said during an emergency meeting Wednesday.