Texas lieutenant governor urges governor to roll back storm power pricing leaderpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from leaderpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Texas House Speaker Disagrees With Bill Senate Passed To Reverse ERCOT’s Overcharges Syndicated Local – CBS Dallas / Fort Worth
AUSTIN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan disagreed with a bill passed quickly by the State Senate on Monday, to reverse billions of dollars in overcharges by ERCOT during last month’s widespread power outages.
The state says those outages are responsible for the deaths of 57 people across Texas.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, March 16, Phelan expressed doubts about lawmakers changing ERCOT’s pricing during February’s winter storms.
“Repricing based on disagreement with PUC and ERCOT’s management decisions is an extraordinary government intervention into the free market, which may have major consequences for both residential and commercial consumers going forward.”
The battle over repricing or fixing the error has set up a political battle of Herculean proportions, pitting Patrick against Phelan and now places Gov. Greg Abbott in the spotlight as to what we will do next.
Abbott has agreed with the PUC s only member still remaining, chair Arthur D Andrea, who has testified in committee hearings that he can t reverse the prices.
Abbott penned a letter to Patrick saying only the legislature can fix the issue.
The error stems from prices ERCOT charged for power in the days after a massive winter storm cut the power to millions of Texans. For at least 36 hours, ERCOT kept prices at sky-high levels, instead of reducing them as power came back online, causing billions in overages.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
(Reuters) - The leader of the Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday signaled he would not support requiring the state’s grid operator to cut billions of dollars from electricity pricing during a cold snap that upended the state’s power market.
FILE PHOTO: An electrical substation is seen after winter weather caused electricity blackouts in Houston, Texas, U.S. February 20, 2021. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
On Monday, the state Senate approved a proposal to order the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) to reduce electricity costs on power marketers during a February deep freeze. The proposal would reduce charges by about $5.1 billion including $900 million in fee cuts already approved by the PUC.
In Private, a Top Regulator Pledged He Would Try to Protect Profits Made During the Blackouts – Texas Monthly texasmonthly.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from texasmonthly.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.