Publishing date: Feb 26, 2021 • February 27, 2021 • 3 minute read •
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(Bloomberg) Texas’s grid operator needs to come up with $1.3 billion to pay power plants for energy they supplied during last week’s historic blackouts, raising the prospect it may require a state bailout.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages most of the state’s grid, said it’s still waiting on more than $2 billion in payments from retail power providers and others after a deep winter freeze caused energy prices to skyrocket. The grid operator, known as Ercot, managed to cover part of that debt by transferring $800 million in revenues from another market but remains $1.3 billion short, according to a notice.
Hearings on Texas disaster expose irrationality of private energy production
The death toll recorded in Texas from the freeze earlier this month has risen to at least 40 statewide, according to ABC, but with 86 deaths in Austin and surrounding areas alone being processed by the Travis County medical examiner, the actual death toll is certainly far larger. Autopsies take 30-90 days to complete, according to the medical examiner.
Bill Magness, President and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), testifies as the Committees on State Affairs and Energy Resources hold a joint public hearing to consider the factors that led to statewide electrical blackouts, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Austin, Texas (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Texas lawmakers look to lay blame for deadly power blackout
FILE PHOTO: Workers install a utility pole to support power lines after an unprecedented winter storm in Houston, Texas, U.S., February 22, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif reuters tickers
This content was published on February 25, 2021 - 23:11
February 25, 2021 - 23:11
By Jennifer Hiller and Gary McWilliams
(Reuters) - Texas state lawmakers on Thursday dug into the causes and cast blame for deadly power blackouts that left millions shivering in the dark as frigid temperatures caught its grid operator and utilities ill-prepared for skyrocketing power demand.
Dual hearings in the state House and Senate are highlighting shortcomings by grid planners, electric utilities, natural gas suppliers, renewable energy and transmission operators that led to billions of dollars in damages and dozens of deaths.
Ercot Still Short $1.3 Billion in Energy Payments: Texas Update
Bloomberg 2/26/2021 Mark Chediak, David Wethe, Joe Carroll and Naureen S. Malik
(Bloomberg) A second day of marathon hearings on Texas’s unprecedented energy crisis raised concerns about the liquidity of the state’s power market, and who will ultimately pay for the disaster as some companies face bankruptcy.
Several utilities told Texas lawmakers Friday that they were still awaiting payment from the grid operator, known as Ercot, for power they provided during the grid emergency, with at least one worrying whether they would be paid at all. As the hearings continued into the evening, Ercot issued a notice saying they remain $1.3 billion short of what they need to pay generators, due to nonpayment from other market participants.
Ercot Still Short $1.3 Billion in Energy Payments: Texas Update
Bloomberg 2/26/2021 Mark Chediak, David Wethe, Joe Carroll and Naureen S. Malik
(Bloomberg) A second day of marathon hearings on Texas’s unprecedented energy crisis raised concerns about the liquidity of the state’s power market, and who will ultimately pay for the disaster as some companies face bankruptcy.
Several utilities told Texas lawmakers Friday that they were still awaiting payment from the grid operator, known as Ercot, for power they provided during the grid emergency, with at least one worrying whether they would be paid at all. As the hearings continued into the evening, Ercot issued a notice saying they remain $1.3 billion short of what they need to pay generators, due to nonpayment from other market participants.