March 12, 2021

Regulation, Reliability…and Texas

44 minutes

Widespread power outages and skyrocketing customer bills due to a frigid February freeze in Texas are raising questions about the way the state regulates power providers.

We brought in a panel of experts to weigh in on questions about regulation, reliability, and what went wrong in Texas. Our panel:

John Carr, VP – Power Supply, Dairyland Power Cooperative

Paul Griffin, Executive Director, Energy Fairness

Kira Loehr, Partner, Perkins Coie

We’ll address the following questions in this roundtable discussion:

What is the role energy choice played in the Texas system outages?

How can we prevent this type of massive, prolonged power outage from happening here?

Are grid updates needed to prepare for more extreme weather events?

Was any generation source the clear winner or loser coming out of this situation?

Links Referenced

“The real problem in Texas: Deregulation,” Opinion Column by Paul Griffin, Utility Dive,

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/the-real-problem-in-texas-deregulation/595564/

“Texas Energy Co-Op Files For Bankruptcy After Storm, High Bill,” NPR,

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/01/972408584/texas-energy-co-op-files-for-bankruptcy-after-storm-high-bill

Other Readings

“Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation,” Wall Street Journal,

https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-electric-bills-were-28-billion-higher-under-deregulation-11614162780?mod=hp_lead_pos7

“Texas Overcharged $16 Billion for Power During Freeze, Monitor Says” Wall Street Journal,

https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-overcharged-16-billion-for-power-during-freeze-monitor-says-11614894714

“The $16 Billion in Texas Power Overcharges? Monitor Says Only $3.2 Billion Can Be Undone,” Wall Street Journal,

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-16-billion-in-texas-power-overcharges-market-monitor-now-pins-figure-at-3-billion-11615479832?page=1

“Texas PUC doubles down on refusal to reprice $16B market 'error' under pressure from leg, governor,” Utility Dive,

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/texas-puc-doubles-down-on-refusal-to-reprice-16b-market-error-under-pres/596595/

Other Podcast Episodes

The Energy Gang Podcast: “The Texas Grid Failure,”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-energy-gang/id663379413?i=1000510505053

Columbia Energy Exchange: “Making Sense of the Texas Energy Crisis,”

https://columbiaenergyexchange.libsyn.com/making-sense-of-the-texas-energy-crisis

...more

View all episodes

By Customers First! Coalition

4.8

1818 ratings