As Texas power grid reforms take shape, natural gas suppliers evade scrutiny
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A Valero Energy Corp. refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S., Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Texas natural gas production plunged by more than 20 percent for five days during Winter Storm Uri. Photographer: Eddie Seal/BloombergEddie Seal / Bloomberg
The Texas Legislature is nearing agreement on a sweeping set of energy reforms that experts say are encouraging but won’t likely fix the biggest failures from this winter’s deadly outages.
Senate Bill 3 passed the House on Monday and is headed for negotiations between both the House and Senate later this week; lawmakers have until May 31
Texas House goes further than Senate to protect state s main power grid
Mitchell Ferman, The Texas Tribune
May 24, 2021
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1of3Kim Scott takes in a pan of biscuits that he cooked on his outdoor grill for breakfast on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Scott and his wife, Clara, lost power in their home about 7 p.m. on Monday. Scott said they still managed to cook dinner last night on the grill as well. They live in a subdivision off Vance Jackson Road where according to the CPS Energy website has one of the most extensive outages in the city.Kin Man Hui/Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less
San Antonio ISD is about to boost its best teachers pay - a lot
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Fourth-grade Master Teacher Gina Gaytan works with her students at Ogden Elementary in 2019. An incentive pay program that SAISD created with federal funds is about to be replaced with a state-funded program that could double the maximum salary increase available to its best teachers who work in its poorest schools. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
Nearly 200 teachers in the San Antonio Independent School District will benefit from a revamped compensation system that could add up to $36,500 to their annual salaries.
Despite natural gas failures during winter storm, Texas lawmakers target renewable energy
Mitchell Ferman, The Texas Tribune
April 19, 2021
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A wind farm stands tall in Texas. Renewable energy sources are the future, and Texas is the leading wind energy producer in the nation./CPS Energy
Texas lawmakers have been advancing sweeping legislation to address some of the major issues stemming from February’s deadly winter storm and catastrophic power outages. But some of the legislative moves are targeting renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, which experts and some lawmakers say seems more like a way to protect oil and gas interests than fix problems with the state’s beleaguered power grid.
Gov. Abbott would lose power to close businesses under bill advanced by Texas Senate
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Governor Greg Abbott speaks at the state capitol concerning the latest developments statewide in the coronavirus issue on March. 13, 2020.Tom Reel, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer
Gov. Greg Abbott would never be able to shut down businesses in Texas again during an emergency like COVID-19 under legislation that passed the state Senate on Tuesday.
In a move to curb Abbott’s powers, lawmakers would require him to call the Legislature into a special session in order to shut down businesses during a major statewide emergency.