Updated: 6:45 PM CST February 24, 2021
DALLAS On Thursday morning, 33 Texas lawmakers will gather at the state capitol to start investigating the deadly power outages that happened last week and how to prevent Texas’ energy infrastructure from failing again.
“We’re going to talk about winterization. What does that mean and how much does that cost,” asked state Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, in an interview with WFAA on Wednesday.
Goldman chairs the Texas House Committee on Energy Resources, which is one of two committees meeting in that chamber on Thursday.
Executives representing companies that own power plants, transmission lines, retail electric providers, natural gas generation and pipelines, along with ERCOT will testify beginning Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m.
Lawmakers delving into deadly Texas power outages take aim at Public Utilities Commission
Taylor Goldenstein, Jeremy Wallace, Jeremy Blackman, Austin Bureau
Feb. 25, 2021
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Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, and other members listens to witness Kirk Morgan answers questions as the Committees on State Affairs and Energy Resources holds a joint public hearing to consider the factors that led to statewide electrical blackouts, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in Austin, Texas. The hearings were the first in Texas since a blackout that was one of the worst in U.S. history, leaving more than 4 million customers without power and heat in subfreezing temperatures. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)Eric Gay, STF / Associated PressShow MoreShow Less
Bill Magness, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said widespread blackouts during last week’s winter storm were necessary to prevent grid failure.
Updated 11:11 p.m.
The head of the state s power grid operator on Thursday defended the group’s decision to order widespread blackouts during last week s winter storm, telling state lawmakers that doing so helped prevent a larger disaster.
Last week’s freezing weather led to skyrocketing demand and unprecedented strain on the power grid, forcing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to enact sustained outages across the state to keep its grid from collapsing.
But in response to a question from state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, ERCOT CEO Bill Magness said that he had no regrets about the response, and that he made the right call to avoid a major grid failure that could have left Texans in the dark for weeks.
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