![]() ![]() The messages were not immediately returned.Īgency spokesman R.J. ![]() The Statesman also left messages with the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates gas pipelines, asking whether the agency requires gas pipeline operators to winterize their infrastructure and if it requires any kind of proof or affidavit about that winterization. “ERCOT's review of plants indicates that the majority of plants are following their weatherization plans,” says the Extreme Weather Reliability Assessment, filed with the PUC in January. ![]() In response to a question from the Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network, about what the state mandates in terms of winterization, a Public Utility Commission official pointed to a state rule that every year ERCOT must file reports with the PUC addressing whether generators have complied with winter weatherization plans – including “an assessment of the reliability and adequacy of the ERCOT system during extremely cold or extremely hot weather conditions.” Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, wrote Wednesday on Twitter. "10 years ago, the PUC identified the incapacity to deal with extreme shifts in the weather and did nothing," state Rep. In addition, power generation companies, transmission companies and retail utilities all have a hand in keeping electricity flowing in the state’s deregulated electricity market. “It’s not just ERCOT – although ERCOT is going to get hammered over this,” he said.ĮRCOT is regulated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas – a three-member panel appointed by the governor – as well as by the Legislature. Greg Abbott and other state leaders are calling for investigations and hearings regarding its handling of the emergency.īut Tuttle said there’s plenty of blame to go around. The agency that oversees the state’s main power market – the Electric Reliability Council of Texas – has been getting the brunt of criticism for the ongoing system failure. Texas energy: ERCOT is in charge of Texas' power, but one-third of its board lives out of state "These recommendations were not mandatory, and over the course of time implementation lapsed," said the August 2011 report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, titled "Report on Outages and Curtailments During the Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1-5, 2011." Ted Cruz flew to Mexico amid Texas winter crisis and power outagesĪ federal report issued in the summer of 2011 found that state officials back in 1989, after another cold snap caused outages, "issued a number of recommendations aimed at improving winterization on the part of the generators." “There are people who live in a lot colder climates than we do” without losing power.ĪP: Sen. “It’s not like the technology isn’t there” to keep electricity flowing during extremely low temperatures, he said. Had the recommendations been followed, either voluntarily by power generators and transmission companies or because of mandates by regulators, many Texans likely would be a lot warmer now, Tuttle said. 'An electrical island': Texas has dodged federal regulation for years by having its own power grid "You could take out ‘2011’ and pop in ‘2021,’ and there is going to be a lot of similarities” between the deficiencies in the grid found in the report 10 years ago and those plaguing it now, said Dave Tuttle, an Energy Institute research associate at the University of Texas. Watch Video: Texas power outage: ERCOT leader responds to Abbott's call to resignĪUSTIN, Texas – Failing power plants, rolling blackouts and a spike in demand as Texas is hijacked by a harsh February winter snowstorm – this was the scenario exactly a decade ago as blackouts rolled through Texas.Ī post-mortem at the time – including a key finding that state officials recommended but did not mandate winter protections for generating facilities – has renewed relevance as Texas is roiled by a record storm that has left millions without power for at least three days amid plunging temperatures.Ī combination of those 2011 findings, as well as reports from the state grid operators that generators and natural gas pipelines froze during the current calamity and Austin American-Statesman interviews with current and former utility executives and energy experts, suggest a light regulatory touch and cavalier operator approach involving winter protections of key industrial assets. ![]()
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