![]() ![]() Many said until that basic fact is resolved, the state will remain vulnerable to blackouts. In Texas' deregulated energy market, companies can make more money during a blackout when supplies of gas or electricity are tight and demand is high. "I think oil and gas interests think, 'Man, that doesn't sound too good to me!' " said Boyle, who now works as an attorney. Jim Boyle, a former public counsel at the Public Utility Commission of Texas, thinks the Texas energy industry may have derailed some of these measures because they would reduce its market power over the grid.Įnvironment And Energy Collaborative In A Landmark Case, A Dutch Court Orders Shell To Cut Its Carbon Emissions Faster A proposal to back up the Texas grid by connecting it to other parts of the country was also not addressed. Bills to increase energy efficiency standards to relieve pressure on the grid were voted down. ![]() Suggestions to encourage power plants to have emergency backup fuel were rarely discussed. That's likely, critics said, because these plans could threaten the profits of natural gas suppliers or electric generators. Other major proposals that might help safeguard the grid in both winter and in summer hardly received a hearing. Lawmakers took a pass on major market reforms Lewin points out that the state Legislature failed to act on that recommendation. Experts said it ignores the interconnectedness of the gas infrastructure.īusiness Texas Energy Co-Op Files For Bankruptcy After Storm, High Billĭoug Lewin, president of the consulting firm Stoic Climate and Energy, said that "$5,000 for a big oil and gas company, to say it's a rounding error is probably an overstatement."Īfter the blackout, analysts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said one simple way to build resilience into the natural gas supply chain would be to mandate weatherization of new gas wells built in Texas. But it only applies to equipment linked directly to power plants. That weatherization part of Senate Bill 3 allows regulators to determine which parts of the natural gas supply chain are critical to electricity production and then requires that they be protected from the cold. with oversight, accountability, communication failures and weatherization," Paddie said as he brought the bill for an initial vote. "It is the bill that addresses those fundamental issues that we identified early on. The legislation, known as Senate Bill 3, now awaits Gov. Chris Paddie, a Republican from Marshall, managed to get a sweeping blackout response bill through the Texas House of Representatives. Given such pushback, it was a big deal when state Rep. ![]() "My industry resolved the problem and didn't really create it," she told lawmakers soon after the blackout. ![]() Industry lobbyists, and regulators often seen as cozy with them, rejected winterization.Ĭhristi Craddick, the elected Republican chair of the state's oil and gas regulatory agency, the Railroad Commission of Texas, even denied the large role oil and gas failures played in the blackout. The reason is that cold weather can freeze wellheads and other components in the natural gas supply chain, stopping gas from getting to power plants.ĭespite February's deadly disaster, it was not clear that would happen this time either. But many electric grid specialists, policy analysts and state politicians themselves said they've failed to do enough to prevent another blackout disaster.Īfter a decade of warnings, a weak mandate to "winterize"Įver since another major freeze and blackout 10 years ago, experts have said Texas needed to "winterize" or "weatherize" not only its power plants but its oil and gas infrastructure as well. This week lawmakers approved a sweeping package of measures to address specific problems that threaten electric reliability - some of them despite opposition from the oil and gas industry. The fact that they were already in Austin meant they could act quickly, and many vowed to shore up the state's electric grid and create safeguards against future power outages. In Texas, legislators typically meet only once every two years. Texas state lawmakers had just started a legislative session when deadly blackouts gripped the state in February. Texas lawmakers approved a package of measures aimed at addressing what went wrong during one of the worst power outages in U.S. In February, Ricki Mills watches from her Dallas home as she waits for a fire hydrant to be turned on to get water. ![]()
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