E&E NEWS: Documents reveal natural gas chaos in Texas blackouts

May 20 — While numerous wind facilities had issues in Texas, gas-powered generation had the most megawatts of generating capacity offline of any resource during the February power crisis, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, whose region includes about 90% of the state’s power load.

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Texas Monthly: Texas’s Oil and Gas Industry Is Defending Its Billions in Subsidies Against a Green Energy Push

June 2021 —The state’s energy business has long counted on special tax breaks and other largesse not available to others. Whether renewables or fossil fuels get more depends on how you do the math.

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Corpus Christi Caller-Times: Bill to remake Public Utility Commission in wake of Uri inches close to the finish line

May 21 — Two months after all three members of the Public Utility Commission resigned within days of each other amid the state’s disastrous response to the winter storm power outages, legislation to remake the agency and set higher standards for those who oversee it is close to the finish line.

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ARS Technica: Texas gov knew of natural gas shortages days before blackout, blamed wind anyway

May 21 — Walker also spoke with regulators, politicians, and utilities dozens of times about the gas curtailments that threatened the state’s electrical grid. The PUC chair’s diary for the days before the outage shows her schedule dominated by concerns over gas curtailments and the impact they would have on electricity generation. Before and during the disaster, she was on more than 100 phone calls with various agencies and utilities regarding gas shortages.

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WFAA: CEO of Texas’ largest generator of electricity said state economy at stake if lawmakers don’t pass energy reform

May 23 — In a rare television interview, the CEO of Vistra Corporation, the state’s largest generator of electricity, said the state’s economy is at stake if Texas lawmakers do not pass meaningful energy reform in the final week of the legislative session.

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Austin American-Statesman: Texas House passes sweeping legislation that seeks to fix power grid failures

May 23 — With a week to go in the legislative session, the Texas House on Monday approved a sweeping bill aimed at shoring up the state’s electric supply system and infrastructure, a proposal crafted in response to statewide power outages in February amid deadly winter storms that plunged millions of Texans into cold and darkness for days.

 

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Texas Tribune: Texas House goes further than Senate to protect state’s main power grid as time to agree on bills winds down

May 23 — After hours of debate Sunday, the Texas House moved to strengthen the state’s main electricity grid in the wake of February’s catastrophic power outages, giving preliminary approval to a proposal that goes further than the Senate’s in preparing for extreme weather.

 

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