Beto Attacks Abbott Over "#AbbottTax" Increases On utility Bills

[#TexasPolitics365]

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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#Texas AG Paxton Says Former Griddy Customers Off The Hook For Outrageous Bills

[#TexasPolitics365]

Griddy Energy customers are off the hook for their outrageous electric bills for February, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The attorney general’s office sued Griddy under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act on behalf of 24,000 customers who have a cumulative $29.1 million in unpaid electric bills from the week of freezing temperatures in Texas last month.

The action Paxton took was to release Griddy’s former customers from Griddy’s bankruptcy, which it filed for Monday in Houston. Texas won’t move forward with its state court lawsuit and investigation, and “Griddy will work with it in good faith to resolve these matters,” the attorney general said.

(Full story here.)

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Lt. Gov. Calls On Utilities Commission To Correct Pricing Error

[#TexasPolitics365]

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called on the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to correct the emergency pricing error that continued after the power shortage had ended and the major threat to the Texas grid had passed.

In a press release Monday, the lieutenant governor wrote: 

“We are continuing to investigate the power outages of the February 15 arctic blast which plunged millions of Texans into darkness.

“In response to grid-wide power shortages starting February 15, the PUC ordered ERCOT to institute the $9,000 per megawatt hour cost cap, which is designed to encourage increased power generation during an extreme shortage. 

"However, according to the Independent Market Monitor (IMM), ERCOT incorrectly extended that pricing intervention after the power shortage had ended. The $9,000 price should have ended at 11:55 PM on February 17. Instead, it continued throughout the entire day of February 18 into February 19th – 32 hours total ­– which resulted in an additional $16 billion in charges."

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Resident Files $1Billion Class-Action Lawsuit After Getting $9,300 Electric Bill

[#TexasPolitics365]

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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San Antonio Republican To File Two Utilities Bills

[#TexasPolitics365]

A San Antonio State representative plans to file two bills in the Texas Legislature regarding the power crisis that has left millions of Texans without electricity and water.

According to a news release posted on Twitter, the first bill Republican Rep. Steve Allison is drafting will require the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to enact comprehensive rules, mandating each energy operator to fully weatherize and maintain each coal, gas, nuclear, and wind plant to protect from severe weather conditions.

“This must not be a suggestion or request for study or report, but a mandate that such weather protections be in place to guard against the freezing consequences Texans are currently experiencing,” said Allison.

Allison says he is also planning to file a bill that would require the PUC to establish rules requiring that each energy provider enact procedures for including public school facilities in emergency priority categories for grid and distribution purposes. 

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