HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) The Texas Legislature hearings were held on Thursday morning to investigate last week s failure of the state s power grid and its manager, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
During an emergency board meeting Wednesday, ERCOT officials said the grid was a mere four minutes and 37 seconds from a total collapse.
More than 350 power generators were knocked offline due to weather issues. Had they not implemented controlled outages, Texas would have been in the dark for weeks. That is why I have made it a legislative priority to mandate and to fund the winterization and stabilization of the Texas power infrastructure, said Gov. Greg Abbott in a statewide address Wednesday evening. This will protect the power grid from future power events.
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Turns out Texans don t save money under our deregulated electricity market
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Bright Star Solutions utility line contractors work on power lines for a nearby subdivision on Feb. 18, 2021, in Montgomery. As Texas grows, its power needs do as well, which some said means a need for greater infrastructure investment.Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Our deregulated electricity market promised reliability and lower electricity prices than our neighbors. Turns out, it provided neither.
Overall, the deregulated market has cost Texans $28 billion more than traditional utilities since 2004, McGinty and Patterson report.
When Texas moved from full-service regulated utilities nearly 20 years ago, proponents of deregulation said that competition between retail energy providers would drive monthly rates down because residents could shop around for the best deals. Instead, Texans ended up paying a lot more.