Capital Highlights
Political fallout from winter storm continues
As Texans across the state continue to deal with the damage from the mid-February winter storm, so does the political fallout in Austin.
So far, seven of the 16 board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas have resigned. CEO Bill Magness defended ERCOT’s decision to order widespread blackouts while testifying before a joint hearing of two state House committees last week.
Meanwhile, the Public Utility Commission, which oversees ERCOT, says it has opened an investigation into retail electric providers whose flexible pricing plans inflicted electric bills in the thousands of dollars on some Texas customers in the wake of the storm. In a televised address on Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said he had ordered that Texans will not have their power shut off because of unpaid bills until the Legislature has had time to act. He acknowledged that power generation from all sources failed under the harsh weather, including natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind and solar. Abbott has made it a legislative priority to mandate and fund winterizing the Texas power infrastructure.
However, the head of Irving-based Vistra energy testified at last week’s committee hearing that winterizing power plants could backfire in summer months. According to the Texas Standard, Curt Morgan said, “We don’t put structures around our equipment down here. Why? Because in the summer when it’s 105 degrees you’d bake inside there; the equipment would fail.”
Additional hearings are scheduled this week in the Texas Senate.
More counties added to major disaster declaration
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has added an additional 31 Texas counties to the federal disaster declaration, making a total of 108 counties covered. Abbott originally asked that all 254 Texas counties be included. Texans across the state are urged to fill out a form to help the state identify damages that occurred during the storm, which can be accessed at: https://tdem.texas.gov/ warming-center/.
Free legal assistance available for low-income persons affected by storm
The State Bar of Texas, American Bar Association and legal aid providers remind Texans that free legal assistance is available through a toll-free hotline to help folks pursue government benefits, insurance claims, home repairs and other issues.