Public Utility Commissioner Shelly Botkin has resigned in the aftermath of the deadly Texas winter weather crisis that left millions of people without power.

The three-member PUC oversees the state’s power grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

“Commissioner Shelly Botkin has resigned her role with the Public Utility Commissionof Texas, effective immediately,” the commission said in one-sentence statement Monday evening.

The Public Utility Commission announced Shelly Botkin's resignation Monday.
The Public Utility Commission announced Shelly Botkin’s resignation Monday. Public Utility Commission of Texas

Botkin’s exit comes a week after the chairwoman of the commission, DeAnn Walker, submitted her resignation under pressure from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Two days later, Gov. Greg Abbott picked a current commissioner, Arthur D’Andrea, to replace Walker as chair. With Botkin’s resignation, the commission is now down to just one member.

That means Abbott will now get to appoint two new commissioners — one to fill D’Andrea’s former slot and the other to succeed Botkin. They are subject to confirmation by the Texas Senate.

Walker testified in front of lawmakers before resigning, and D’Andrea spoke publicly about issues over the power outages after being elevated to commission chair. Meanwhile, Botkin has mostly kept quiet publicly.

She was appointed by Abbott to the PUC in 2018, and was reappointed in 2019 for a term that would have expired in 2025. Previously, she worked for ERCOT in government relations and corporate communications, and prior to that, she spent 10 years at the Texas Capitol as a senior policy analyst.

Erin Douglas and Mitchell Ferman contributed reporting.

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Patrick Svitek was the primary political correspondent for The Texas Tribune. Patrick covered elections, state leaders, the Legislature and political trends across the state from 2015 until 2024. He previously...