Texas Tech scientists are working on something called the Home Utility Management System, or HUMS. It’s basically a “do-it-yourself survival kit” for your house: catch rainwater off your roof, store it in a tank, slap some solar panels up, and pray the batteries don’t crap out when it’s 107° at midnight. The idea is that you’ll be less dependent on Texas’ famously fragile independent grid—the same one that buckles if too many people plug in a box fan at once.
Dr. Brian Ancell and his team have been tinkering with HUMS for years, partnering with everyone from Habitat for Humanity to nonprofits in San Antonio (because apparently Lubbock’s city government was too busy “evaluating potential security concerns” with its own website to care). The system even uses weather forecasting to tell you when to use water or power—because nothing screams “Texan independence” like your house bossing you around about when you can run the dishwasher.
Of course, none of this comes cheap. The team applied for an EPA grant, only to find out that “funding cuts” are the new national pastime. So now they’re begging the NSF, Habitat, and maybe the private sector to keep the dream alive. Meanwhile, regular Lubbockites are told to make do with splash pads and rolling brownouts.
In a state that brags about “energy dominance,” it’s nice to know the long-term plan is: every Texan for themselves. Who needs a functioning grid when you’ve got a bucket on your roof?
