Texas Lawmakers Seek Answers, Changes Around Widespread Power Grid Failures
AUSTIN, Texas — As millions of Texans remain without power, top leaders are calling for an investigation into the state’s energy grid operator. It comes as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas still does not have a timeline for when people will get their power back. In fact, they said more could lose power as another winter storm rolls through the state. ERCOT officials said they prepared for the event, but demand outpaced supply much more quickly than anticipated.
Gov. Greg Abbott declared reforming the agency an emergency item for lawmakers to tackle. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced Tuesday the Senate Business and Commerce Committee is moving forward with hearings. Meanwhile, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan also called on the Committees of State Affairs and Energy Resource to hold a joint hearing on February 25 to review the statewide outages.
“The statewide blackouts raise questions about the reliability of our electric grid and its ability to withstand extreme weather events in the future,” said House State Affairs Committee Chairman Chris Paddie in a statement.
Democratic state Rep. Donna Howards sits on the State Affairs committee. She told Spectrum News 1 she spent the past couple of days speaking with various stakeholders and she believes there are several factors that need to be broken down and reviewed by legislators.
“We have a system that has not served us with extremes in weather, and we have got to address that, especially if we’re looking at climate change and the impacts of extreme weather that we’re going to be continuing to have to deal with for the time being,” she said.
Howard said she has questions about the current pricing system and what role the state has in incentivizing generation providers to retrofit current systems to handle extreme weather events.
“The thermal generated systems of coal and gas and nuclear all had freezing that shut some of them down. Obviously, the wind turbines and solar are compromised in this kind of weather. The whole thing needs to be looked at and the fact that we several years back deregulated this industry, I think also needs to be looked at because clearly, this is not working,” she said.
Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach believes the Texas grid should have been better safeguarded. He spoke to Spectrum News 1 at a pizza shop in his North Texas neighborhood where there have been rolling blackouts. Leach said he has been fielding calls from concerned constituents and has been especially disappointed in the lack of communication.
“What I think we need to do more than anything is tell the truth and be available to talk, to listen, to communicate, and there’s been a lack of that in recent days. As for me, in my district, I’m communicating very directly and openly and honestly, with my constituents, because that’s what they expect and deserve,” Leach said.
For now, when it comes to reforming ERCOT, Leach thinks it is best that the nonprofit’s board members live in Texas. He said he was surprised to learn that was not the case for everyone on the operator’s board of directors, which drew criticisms from elected officials from both parties.
“The chair of the board lives in Michigan. That’s unacceptable. That’s surprising and shocking to a lot of people including me. The people who are making decisions on our behalf ought to be living here in the state experiencing what we’re experiencing. We’re going to have that conversation and hopefully change it this session,” Leach said.
