News and Updates from Senator Hinojosa

Today, legislative committees began their investigation into the energy regulators and providers that played a role in responding to the winter storm that nearly shut down our electric grid. This week, we have learned that the record-setting temperatures shut down 48.6% of electricity generation. Five members of the ERCOT board have also resigned. Additionally, we have learned that the Texas electricity grid was minutes away from a complete shutdown that would have required a “black start” which could have taken weeks to bring the grid back online. These are serious issues and many Texans are still recovering from the physical, mental, and financial pain this storm and the loss of power caused. We will work to ensure this never happens again.

Recently, I wrote an op-ed that I am sharing with you below, regarding this issue. Also, as Vice Chair of the Senate Jurisprudence Committee, I will be joining my Senate colleagues at a hearing next Thursday, March 4th at 9:00am where we will be reviewing the governance and oversight of ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission. We will also be examining price gouging and how the judicial system is managing its operations during the ongoing statewide emergency. A live video broadcast of this hearing will be available here: https://senate.Texas.gov/av-live.php

As we continue to examine extreme weather conditions and the circumstances that led to power outages across our state, I encourage you to submit your comments by clicking on this link. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you have any questions or need additional information.

Texans Suffer the Consequences of a Decades-Long Push for Energy Deregulation

Column by State Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, February 2021

Texas often prides itself on being a low-regulation state that puts the free market ahead of all else. While this approach does work in some situations, often on a short-term basis, it can also have dire consequences as demonstrated by millions of Texans left without power and/or water.

To understand how the human-side of this disaster happened, we have to take a look at how we got here. In 1999, Texas deregulated its energy market. This meant that instead of cities or other local entities completely controlling the supply of energy to customers, the provision of electricity would be broken up into three components – generation, transmission, and retail. Under this new regime, a customer would have the choice between various retail electric providers, with the hopes that such a move would lower prices. However, as we have experienced before and are learning yet again – you often get what you pay for.

As part of the change to a deregulated energy market, prices were no longer fixed by the government. Companies were instead encouraged to compete to attract customers. With that competition came fewer rules from the state by which each of these players in the energy market had to abide.

Unfortunately, this system created incentives for energy companies to cut corners and invest as little as possible in order to maximize their profits. It would be easy to just blame the energy companies for doing this, but it is the system that the state created that is truly to blame. When electric generators are told they should take certain actions, like winterizing their power plants, but that simply remains a suggestion, then most companies will not do so out of fear that their competitor will choose not to and ultimately make more money or attract more customers. Situations like these are why we have government regulation and we need to take a hard look at what is and is not working in the energy market in Texas.

One question you might be asking yourself is where does ERCOT fit into all this? Undoubtedly by now, you have heard or read something about ERCOT and the (not-so) rolling blackouts it implemented across the state. Sadly, this past week ERCOT did not live up to its name – the Electric RELIABILITY Council of Texas. Too many Texans were made victim of what proved to be a very un-reliable grid, and concrete steps have to be taken to ensure it never happens again.

Following deregulation, ERCOT took a larger role in the energy market in Texas. Now that retail electric providers could purchase their electricity from anywhere in the state, some entity needed to be in charge of managing the market of producing, buying, selling, and transmitting electricity all across Texas. In 2002, ERCOT was made into an independent organization with a board that consists of representatives from the energy companies, the state, and the public. However, ERCOT is still subject to regulations by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and is thus still under the control of the state.

The state therefore needs to take a look, top to bottom, of how electricity is generated and provided to the public. While ERCOT played a role in this disaster, they are not the only ones responsible. What actions did state leaders take or not take that led to millions of Texans being left in the cold without power for days? Why did our power plants prove to be so inferior to those in other areas of the country that felt the same cold, but did not have the same devastating power outages? These questions and many more will be considered at an upcoming Senate Committee on Jurisprudence hearing, of which I serve as the Vice-Chair. I intend to ask these questions and not only get to the bottom of what happened, but more importantly shed light and what needs to change.

At the outset of this inquiry, we already know quite a bit. First we know that despite numerous elected officials claiming that the outages were the fault of wind turbines that froze, the truth is that the failure of renewable energy was dwarfed by the failure of fossil fuel plants. We know this because a senior official at ERCOT gave us the facts about what power generation was knocked offline by the cold, and those facts showed that thermal power production (that is nuclear, coal, and natural gas) accounted for around two-thirds of the lost generating capacity. Especially hard hit were natural gas plants who struggled to get supply because transmission lines froze and power to pump the gas out of the ground was unavailable.

But it didn’t have to be this way. Ten years ago much of the state experienced a freeze that knocked numerous power plants offline. A study was conducted by federal regulators to determine how to prevent this from happening again, and part of the recommendations made were to winterize power plants. However, given the lack of regulations in Texas around energy production, those solutions remained recommendations, not requirements. One area of the state, El Paso, that is not part of ERCOT and is instead part of a federally regulated grid implemented these solutions and the results this past week were striking – only a few thousand people lost power for mere minutes.

Moving forward, I am confident that we will learn the details of what went wrong and how we can fix it. We must resist the temptation to believe this is a once-in-a-lifetime event that we don’t need to plan for again. With climate change making our summers hotter and winters colder, the demand on our energy grid is only going to intensify and we have to be ready for it. The solutions exist – more stringent regulations that put people ahead of profits, the adoption of smart technology like robust energy storage, and treating electricity as a true utility that we all have a right to have and enjoy and that remains reliable when we need it most. We have a responsibility to ensure these solutions don’t remain ideas on the shelf, but rather are put into action.

Additional Updates and Information

Call Center To Assist Texans With Texas Individual Assistance Reporting Tool

The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), with the assistance of the Texas Military Department, launched a call center to assist Texans, who have limited or no internet access, with completing the State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT). Texans can call 844-844-3089 between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM seven days a week to submit their disaster damage information. This call center is specifically for Texans who are unable to submit information through the online iSTAT tool. Those with internet can access the iSTAT by visiting http://damage.tdem.texas.gov.

Governor Abbott, TDHCA Extend Housing Tax Credit Application Deadline

Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) have extended the submission deadline for housing tax credit applications. The original deadline of March 1st has been pushed to Monday, March 8th at 5:00 PM CT to allow extra time for housing developers to secure documentation or other communications needed while people were out of service.

500 Additional Plumbers

The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSPBE) today announced that the board has identified an additional 500 licensees, as of Sunday, who are capable of performing plumbing under general supervision. These additional licensees have been identified through previously granted waivers to increase the availability of plumbers and Plumber’s Apprentices to repair burst pipes as the state recovers from the winter storm.

Federal Approval Allowing SNAP Clients To Purchase Hot Foods

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) received federal approval to allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to use their food benefits to purchase hot foods and ready-to-eat meals due to impacts from the severe winter storm. SNAP recipients can now use their benefits for hot foods and ready-to-eat foods, such as rotisserie chicken or grocery store deli foods, at retailers that accept SNAP anywhere in the state. Additionally, Texas received federal approval Feb. 19 to allow SNAP recipients to apply for replacement benefits for food lost or destroyed due to the severe weather.

Texas Comptroller’s Office Extends Franchise Tax Deadline

In response to the recent winter storm and power outages in the state, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today that his agency is automatically extending the due date for 2021 franchise tax reports from May 15 to June 15. The extension aligns the agency with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which earlier this week extended the April 15 tax-filing and payment deadline to June 15 for all Texas residents and businesses. The due date extension applies to all franchise taxpayers. It is automatic, and taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms.