Edgewater Republican Files Bill To Strengthen Grid

[#TexasPolitics365]

Sen. Bob Hall recently filed Senate Bill 330 to address the resiliency and reliability of the Texas electric grid.

During each session he has been in office, the Edgewood Republican has advocated for strengthening the resiliency of the grid and implementing measures to harden the grid against both natural and man-made threats.

As seen during Winter Storm Uri, the grid is vulnerable. The natural threat of the winter storm took the lives of over 200 people, had a direct/indirect economic impact of over $130 billion, and brought the state to within four minutes of a statewide grid failure, which would have meant weeks or even months without electricity.

(Full story HERE.)

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Texas Power Crisis Underscores Green Energy Unreliability, Expert Says

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Energy expert Jonathan Lesser warned that the power crisis in Texas underscores the broader problems with green energy, in an interview Tuesday with Fox News Digital.

Lesser — an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute who has more than 30 years of energy industry experience — argued that, because of renewable energy sources' intermittent quality and the lack of reliable utility-scale battery storage infrastructure, forcing a green transition will lead to more power outages.

(Full story HERE.)
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Texas Congressman Warns Of Cyber Attacks On Power Grid

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Rep. August Pfluger called on the Biden administration to take steps to better protect the U.S. power grid from cyberattacks and from reserve capacity shortages , warning in a letter shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner that these vulnerabilities risk setting off a nationwide reliability crisis.

In a letter sent to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm , the northwest Texas Republican said the Department of Energy “lacks a clear plan to protect our critical infrastructure systems from nefarious actors, like Russia, and ensure peak power demand can be sufficiently met.”

(Full story HERE.)
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O'Rourke Calls Abbott "Authoritarian" With "Fixation On Trans Kids"

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Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke characterized incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott as an 'authoritarian thug' with his 'own oligarch[s] here in the state of Texas' within the gas industry, at Saturday's SXSW music and media event in Austin.

During an hour-long interview, O'Rourke also accused the longtime Texas governor of overlooking sex-trafficked children in his state in favor of his 'crazed fixation' on transgender children. 

It was one of many attacks the failed former presidential candidate unleashed on Abbott. He also accused him of incompetence during last year's ice storm.

(Full story HERE.)
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Beto Attacks Abbott Over "#AbbottTax" Increases On utility Bills

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Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke is calling out Gov. Greg Abbott once more - saying in a Twitter video that the governor is leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for fixing the state’s energy grid.

“Many of you are already seeing rising utility bills,” O’Rourke says. “In fact, the average Texas household, by the end of this winter, will see an increase in their utility bills of between $20 and $50 per month going forward.”

On Saturday morning, Texas Democrats had the hashtag #AbbottTax trending on Twitter for Texas users.

For Democrats, last year's failure of the electric grid in Texas following record low temperatures and a massive ice storm, remains one of the few wedge issues they hope to use to pry Abbott out of the governor's mansion next November.

Republicans have responded to attacks that "nothing" has been done to address the problems of the grid by pointing to a series of reforms to the electric grid and electric grid management past by the legislature in the past year.

(Full story here.)
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Tesla Energy Approved To Sell Electricity In Texas

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The Public Utility Commission of Texas has approved an application from Tesla Energy Ventures, LLC, to provide retail electricity “throughout the area served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT),” according to the application.

That means the company can sell its energy to residential or business customers in places like Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston, but not to municipal or co-op areas like Bluebonnet, Pedernales, or Austin Energy service areas.

(Full story here.)
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El Paso Billionaire Named New ERCOT Chairman

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An El Paso businessman, billionaire Paul Foster, has been named chairman of the new board for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas - ERCOT.

He is one of the first two members of the new ERCOT board, which is being reformed after last winter's near collapse of the Texas power grid, which ERCOT manages.

Many legislators were surprised to learn after the ice storm that most of the board members did not reside in Texas, and had no connection to the state.

Six remaining ERCOT board positions are to be filled in the coming months, according to the announcement recently made by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which oversees ERCOT. 

(Full story here.)
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Bill Banning Wholesale Electricity Price Hikes Goes To Gov. Abbott's Desk

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House Bill 16 would not allow residential or small-business electricity customers in Texas to sign up for electricity plans where wholesale prices for power are passed to customers. 

It is headed to Gov. Abbott's desk for his signature after it was approved by the Texas House this past week.

Those plans include the kind that caused February power bills to skyrocket for several customers of Griddy Energy and other companies. Some customers reported bills over $15,000.

(Full story here)
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Resident Files $1Billion Class-Action Lawsuit After Getting $9,300 Electric Bill

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A $1 billion class-action lawsuit has been filed against Texas wholesale electricity retailer Griddy Energy for allegedly charging exorbitant prices during last week's historic storm that left millions powerless in the freezing cold, reports ABC News.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Chambers County resident Lisa Khoury in Harris County on Monday, who claimed her electricity bill soared to $9,340 the week of the storm. According to the lawsuit, her average monthly bills typically range from $200 to $250.

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