Tag Archives: ERCOT

The state of the Public Utility Commission

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

News item #1: While many Texans last week were worried about sky-high electric bills from February’s winter storms, the state’s sole utility commissioner was privately reassuring out-of-state investors who profited from the crisis that he was working to keep their … Continue reading →

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Winter storm death count at 57

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This is likely to rise as we get better data. At least 57 people died in Texas as a result of last month’s winter storm, according to preliminary data the state health department released Monday. The largest number of deaths … Continue reading →

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Abbott vs Patrick on power outage blame game

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. The blame game over the state’s faulty electrical grid is creating a rare public rift between the two top Republicans in state government that could have a major financial impact on some utility companies and … Continue reading →

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The opening bid on power outage response

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Not bad, but there’s a long way to go and not a lot of detail just yet. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan on Monday announced seven priority bills responding to the winter weather crisis last month that left millions of … Continue reading →

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Congress has questions for Abbott

Posted on March 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Will he answer them? That’s the bigger question. Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, including Reps. Marc Veasey of Dallas and Lizzie Fletcher of Houston, are conducting a probe into Gov. Greg Abbott and why Texas’ electrical … Continue reading →

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ERCOT’s overcharges

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas made a $16 billion error in pricing during the week of the winter storm that caused power outages across the state, according to a filing by its market monitor. Potomac Economics, the independent … Continue reading →

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PUC Chair resigns

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The body count increases. The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the agency that regulates the state’s electric, telecommunication, and water and sewer utilities, resigned Monday, according to a resignation letter provided to the Texas Tribune. The Gov. … Continue reading →

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Paxton sues Griddy

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Bandwagon time. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Monday against electricity retailer Griddy, claiming it misled customers using deceptive business practices after some customers reported bills costing tens of thousands of dollars. These charges were incurred during Texas’ … Continue reading →

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Who watches the utility overseers?

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, nobody. At least, not anymore. Late last year, as winter approached and power companies prepared for cold weather, Gov. Greg Abbott’s hand-picked utility regulators decided they no longer wanted to work with a nonprofit organization they had hired to … Continue reading →

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Anger at Abbott

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I want to believe, I really really want to believe. It was clear by Tuesday afternoon that Texas was in a full-blown crisis – and Gov. Greg Abbott had largely been out of sight. More than 4 million households did … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick’s priorities

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

They haven’t changed. He might have had to shoehorn in a thing or two because he’s not stupid and he knows he had a close call in 2018, but the essence of Dan Patrick is eternal. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick … Continue reading →

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We need more focus on the Public Utility Commission

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start with this tweet: . Just to repeat again. ERCOT is not a state regulator. It is a group overseen by the Public Utility Commission, a group that has so far escaped much of the scrutiny focused on ERCOT. … Continue reading →

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The economic hardship of the freeze

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We may have power and water again (mostly), but some things that were lost can’t easily be gotten back. Last Tuesday, as Houston temperatures hovered below freezing for much of the day, Gloria Sanchez’s lights — and heat — cut … Continue reading →

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Harris County considers its ERCOT responses

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe ERCOT isn’t right for us. Harris County should consider leaving the state’s main power grid after it failed to prevent widespread blackouts for more than half of Houston-area residents last week, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said Monday. Garcia … Continue reading →

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Suing Griddy

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to be interesting. A Chambers County resident filed a class-action lawsuit against electricity retailer Griddy on Monday, accusing the provider of price gouging customers during last week’s freeze. She is seeking $1 billion in relief for affected … Continue reading →

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On informing the public during an emergency

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Another thing the state didn’t do well. As millions of Texans fought to survive brutal winter weather without power and water, Gov. Greg Abbott told residents Wednesday to search for emergency warming shelters on Google and to call 311 for … Continue reading →

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The traveling Paxtons

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Seriously? While millions of Texans languished in their homes last week without heat, many of them racking up astronomical electricity bills, the state official in charge of consumer protection left to take an out-of-state trip. According to a campaign spokesman, … Continue reading →

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Have Texas Republicans finally damaged themselves?

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Some of them have. How much remains to be seen. The brutal winter storm that turned Texas roads to ice, burst pipes across the state and left millions of residents shivering and without power has also damaged the reputations of three of the … Continue reading →

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Now we get to worry about food

Posted on February 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Because the supply chain also suffered from the massive power outages. The state’s week of weather hell started with a deadly 133-car pileup outside of Fort Worth. A winter storm unlike any Texas has ever seen quickly followed, and seven … Continue reading →

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Republicans are determined to learn the wrong lessons from the blackouts

Posted on February 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s kind of amazing, and yet completely on brand. With millions of Texans having lost power during the winter storms, key players in the Legislature say one of the most immediate reforms they will push for is recalibrating the state’s … Continue reading →

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The “public service” part of being a public servant

Posted on February 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not that hard, though obviously some people make it look easier than others. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [flew] to Houston [Friday] with more than $2 million to help Texas recover from a week of catastrophic blackouts and water … Continue reading →

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It could have been worse

Posted on February 19, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Hard to imagine, but this would qualify. Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday. As … Continue reading →

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When the going gets tough, Ted Cruz gets going

Posted on February 19, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

All the way to Cancun. Smell ya later, suckers! U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was feeling the heat Thursday as photos circulated online showing the Texas Republican traveling to Cancún while millions in his home state were left in the cold … Continue reading →

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Winter storm/blackout/boil water situation, Day 439

Posted on February 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I may be a bit off in my counting of the days, but it’s close enough. Between my house and my in-laws’ house, I have had power for maybe 14 hours total since Monday morning, with a bit more time … Continue reading →

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So what’s going on with the power supply?

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

First, as a personal update, we have been without power at our house since about 7 PM on Monday, and we had no Internet on Tuesday morning. I’m writing this on Tuesday evening from my in-laws’ house, where they have … Continue reading →

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These blackouts don’t roll

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

How it started. Texas’ electrical grid operator is implementing rolling blackouts across most of the state Monday after a massive winter storm brought unprecedented demand for electricity and forced multiple power-generating units offline. The blackouts began at 1:25 a.m. Central … Continue reading →

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Beware of blackouts

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This would not be great. The nonprofit organization that operates Texas’ power grid warned Sunday that it may be forced to impose rolling outages in the state on Monday and Tuesday as a major winter storm brings record low temperatures … Continue reading →

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Beware the renewable energy disinformation

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s out there, in more ways than one. David Dunagan doesn’t want a 760-acre solar power plant to be built across his fenceline. The Old Jackson Power Plant will replace farmland in Van Zandt County with gleaming, metal panels. Though … Continue reading →

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Suing ERCOT

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Panda Power built three power plants earlier in this decade, investing billions of dollars based on projections from the state’s grid manager that Texas desperately needed more generation to meet growing electricity demand. But those projections turned out to … Continue reading →

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We can make the end of coal in Texas happen

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s already happening. It just needs a bit of a boost. Texas might have the perfect environment to quit coal for good. Texas is one of the only places—potentially in the world—where the natural patterns of wind and sun could … Continue reading →

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The war on coal is over in Texas

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Coal lost, and good riddance. Wind power capacity edged out coal for the first time in the Texas history last week after a new 155-megawatt wind farm in Scurry County came online. The farm in question is the Fluvanna Wind … Continue reading →

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Clean Power Plan’s day in the DC court

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it goes. Dozens of lawyers from the government, industry and public interest groups packed the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, to hear the divisive case that comes just weeks before a heated presidential election … Continue reading →

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Back to court for the Clean Power Plan

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. One of the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s final acts on Earth may have been to doom it. Last February, on the final Tuesday of Scalia’s life, the Supreme Court handed down a 5–4 decision suspending the Obama … Continue reading →

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Getting the (wind and solar) power to the people

Posted on August 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all about the transmission lines. The Lone Star state is by far the largest state for wind power, with nearly 18,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity already built and another 5,500 megawatts—nearly equal to California’s total installed capacity—planned. The … Continue reading →

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