Page 4 - Tim Morstad News Today

Regulators at the Public Utility Commission of Texas may take steps toward overhauling how electricity is bought and sold in the state on Thursday. Consumer advocates and energy experts fear the changes could increase electric bills without improving the grid.

The regulator is discussing at a meeting on Thursday around a dozen proposals to make the grid more stable and reliable in case of emergencies

But energy experts warned Texas consumers could still end up with higher bills without improved electric reliability.

PUC officials have said they have confidence the lights will stay on this winter after several recent changes, but some energy experts have their doubts.

That pause, according to a panel of energy experts, would give the PUC an opportunity to answer several questions about rebuilding the Texas electric grid.

Regulators at the Public Utility Commission of Texas may take steps toward overhauling how electricity is bought and sold in the state on Thursday. Consumer advocates and energy experts fear the changes could increase electric bills without improving the grid.

Regulators at the Public Utility Commission of Texas may take steps toward overhauling how electricity is bought and sold in the state on Thursday. Consumer advocates and energy experts fear the changes could increase electric bills without improving the grid.

Regulators at the Public Utility Commission of Texas may take steps toward overhauling how electricity is bought and sold in the state on Thursday. Consumer advocates and energy experts fear the changes could increase electric bills without improving the grid.

The increase in the Texas metroplex is more than double the average rise for U.S. cities. At 15.3 cents per kilowatt hour, it’s the highest average since the Great Recession. Experts predict prices will continue to increase.

Electrical lines near Red Bud Isle in Austin on June 25. Carolyn Rivera has lived in her East Houston neighborhood for 40 years. The 77-year-old retired school teacher has held out against hurricanes and heat waves, but nothing like last February when her power went out for over four days. “It was so cold in here ... my bed was like a block of ice,” she remembered months later. Like most of her neighbors, she said, the pipes in her house froze and burst. That included the sewage system. �...