Powering Through the Dark: How the Texas Military Department Leads the Nation in Redefining Energy Resilience

Texas Military Department
"Texans Serving Texas"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 21, 2026
Contact: 512-782-5620 [email protected]

Powering Through the Dark: How the Texas Military Department Leads the Nation in Redefining Energy Resilience

AUSTIN, Texas (April 20, 2026) - When the power goes out, most organizations sit around and wait for it to come back. But for one Texas agency, those dark days are over. The Texas Military Department (TMD) does the opposite - it plans for it, trains for it, and deliberately shuts power off to prove it can operate without it.
In fact, TMD is at the forefront in implementing such exercises across the Department of Defense (DoD). After last week's successful real-time run, the Texas National Guard became the first in the entire DoD portfolio to operate on microgrids alone for 72 straight hours - breaking the DoD record by over 26 hours.
"This Black Start exercise demonstrates that the Texas Military Department is leading the way in energy resilience and mission assurance," said Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, Adjutant General of Texas. "We are not waiting for the next crisis-we are preparing for it. Through advanced infrastructure and realistic training, we are ensuring our forces remain ready to support Homeland Defense and serve Texans under any conditions."
A Black Start exercise is so-named because it simulates a full electrical grid failure and forces an installation to rely entirely on internal energy systems. While the concept has long existed in the energy sector, its application across military installations is relatively new-and still rare.
"These exercises validate whether your systems actually work when it matters," said Brian Stevens, Deputy Construction and Facilities Management Officer and Director of Plans, Programs, and Innovation for TMD. "You can design resilient infrastructure on paper, but until you operate fully disconnected from the grid under real conditions, you don't truly know your level of readiness."
At the center of the exercise was TMD's advanced microgrid infrastructure, designed to operate seamlessly whether connected to the commercial grid or fully isolated from it.
Unlike traditional backup systems that rely on a single generator, TMD's approach integrates multiple energy sources, including diesel and natural gas generation, solar photovoltaic systems, battery energy storage, and advanced control systems.
"We have to be prepared for both severe weather events and the growing threat environment posed by adversary nations and terrorist organizations targeting critical infrastructure," said Tom Myers, Energy Program Manager for the Texas Military Department. "Energy systems are no longer just a support function-they are a potential target."
Natural disasters including Hurricane Harvey, 2017 and Winter Storm Uri, 2021, revealed vulnerabilities across both civilian and military infrastructure and underscored a crucial need for multiple sources of energy to maintain power, connectivity, and communications.
"Those events changed how we think about resilience," Myers said. "It's not just about restoring power-it's about sustaining operations for as long as necessary, under any conditions."
Last week's exercise was planned in response to Governor Greg Abbott's call to enhance resilience planning across state agencies as outlined in Executive Order GA-48 and other directives.
"Our microgrids are designed to operate both as part of the grid and independently from it," Myers said. "That means we can support normal operations efficiently but immediately transition to islanded operations when conditions require it-without interrupting the mission."
During the Black Start exercise, TMD tested processes and procedures while synchronizing teams to ensure power flow at key locations.
"Our team has facilitated over 20 exercises to date for the Army, Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency," said Martha Kiene, Chief of the Power Reliability Enchantment Program at USACE. "This exercise demonstrated the longest use of a microgrid that we have seen to date. It was a great example of what committed, strategic energy planning can accomplish. The three-day exercise is an outstanding test of the installation's resiliency and a testimony to what a proactive, forward leaning command team can achieve."
TMD is already looking beyond power resilience. The agency is focusing future efforts on integrated systems, such as those which combine energy and water infrastructure.
As severe weather events and threats within the state continue to evolve, the ability to operate in the absence of reliable power is no longer an edge case-it is a baseline requirement. And through exercises like Black Start, TMD and the Texas National Guard are living up to the motto, "Always Ready. Always There."

For more information, contact Texas Military Department Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or 512-782-5620.

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The mission of the Texas Military Department (TMD) is to provide the Governor and the President with ready and trained forces in support of the citizens of Texas and State and Federal civil/military authorities at home and abroad. The Texas Military Department is commanded by the Adjutant General of Texas, the state's senior military official appointed by the governor, and is comprised of the Office of State Administration (formally the Office of the Executive Director), the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG), the Texas Air National Guard (TXANG) and the Texas State Guard (TXSG).