Dallas Morning News: Texas Senate seeks to fix problem in winter storm finance bill they say would increase energy costs
Aug 17 — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who supports his members’ request for the PUC to make the fix, had asked for more ratepayer protection throughout the regular session.
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Texas Tribune: Texas regulators want to prepare the state’s electricity grid for extreme weather. But that’s a moving target in a warming world.
Aug. 16 — The state plans to use past weather data to craft rules for power plant upgrades. Scientists warn that the accelerating effects of climate change make relying on old data alone insufficient.
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KSAT: ‘Texas Power Grid Failure: What Went Wrong,’ a KSAT 12 investigative special
Aug. 18 — Buzzfeed News estimates the death toll is 702 across Texas. The national media outlet analyzed deaths during the storm based on mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — the same data used to estimate the full death toll of COVID-19.
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S&P Global Platts: Texas regulators mull netting utilities’ storm costs to affiliates’ revenues
Aug. 17 — Texas regulators may discuss Aug. 19 the question of how to handle the securitization of extraordinary costs related to the deadly mid-February winter storm – in particular whether to offset costs charged to load-serving entities against corresponding revenues to those LSEs’ affiliated power suppliers.
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San Antonio Report: Legislators affirm commitment to Texas gas, oil industry while pushing for clean energy future
Aug. 18 — Following a private tour of CPS Energy’s Calaveras Power Station Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) said they are committed to protecting the state’s oil and gas jobs, but would also like to see Texas become a leader in clean energy.
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S&P Global: Texas regulators mull netting utilities’ storm costs to affiliates’ revenues
Aug. 17 — Lawmakers, regulatory staffers and stakeholders differ over whether a debt obligation order to finance Electric Reliability Council of Texas uplift balances for costs related to the deadly mid-February winter storm should be used to pay companies with affiliates that received windfall revenues from the storm.
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Austin Monitor: Gas companies seek more cash from consumers
Aug. 17 — While Austin is not on the list, city officials confirmed late Monday that Austin has joined in intervening on the matter. Thomas Brocato, the lead attorney representing the alliance of cities, told the Austin Monitor that other cities still have time to join the coalition.
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Odessa American: Will ERCOT fail again?
Aug. 15 — State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, says ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) is not out of the woods because the state needs 80,000 megawatts of generating capacity but only has 70,000.
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Houston Chronicle: With electric power market plan in the works, consumption remains an issue
Aug. 14 — The Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, announced last month that the agencies would work on a “once in a generation” plan to overhaul how electricity is sold.
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Houston Chronicle: Even at fossil fuel’s big show, renewables are showing their power
July 18 — OTC, Houston’s signature event for the oil and gas industry, is including speakers and exhibitors involved in the energy transition — giving renewable energy a platform in front of an audience steeped in the fossil fuel industry. It signals the shift in the traditional energy industry as companies begin to lean into cleaner sources of power, transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable options.