With the clock on the Legislative session ticking down, the Texas House moved to help fund power plant upgrades for extreme weather.
Erin Douglas
Erin Douglas was the climate reporter for The Texas Tribune from 2020 through 2023 where she covered the impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, drought and hurricanes. She reported on the toll flooding takes on mental health, investigated a chemical fire at an industrial facility, and covered the collapse of Texas’ power grid that led to widespread blackouts across the state. Her coverage of the Texas blackouts in 2021 was recognized by the Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Erin was previously a business and economy reporter at the Houston Chronicle where she covered labor, energy and the environment. She studied journalism and economics at Colorado State University, and her first newsroom job was interning at The Denver Post, her hometown newspaper.
Posted in
Winter Storm 2021
Wind power a smaller contributor to Texas electricity crisis than initially estimated, ERCOT analysis shows
An updated analysis of the Texas power crisis shows lost natural gas power generation was the most significant component of the February outages.
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Texas Legislature 2021
House votes to ban school vouchers, cap attorney general spending as part of its proposed $246 billion state budget
House members filed nearly 240 proposed tweaks to the massive spending plan and spent hours taking votes on controversial issues ranging from Medicaid expansion to school vouchers.
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Energy
ERCOT asked Texans to conserve power as electric grid again struggled to keep up with demand
A higher than expected amount of plant outages for maintenance created tight conditions for Texas’ power grid. It returned to normal late Tuesday evening.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas lawmakers want to ban dangerous radioactive waste. The proposal would give a nuclear waste company a big financial break.
A bill advancing in the House seeks to ban spent nuclear fuel, one of the most dangerous types of radioactive waste, from coming to Texas.
Posted in
Winter Storm 2021
When the power went out, Texas oil and gas regulators rushed to defend the industry’s image
Members of the Texas Railroad Commission were quick to blame renewable energy for power outages across the state. All sources of energy struggled to produce power during the storm.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Texas lawmakers want to prevent another power crisis. But the legislation doesn’t go far enough to do that, critics say.
Some say lawmakers should go further to ensure power plants can withstand increased weather due to climate change. And they worry that much of the legislation advancing will be up to the Public Utility Commission to enforce.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Sweeping legislation to overhaul state’s electricity market in response to winter storm heads to Texas House after Senate’s unanimous approval
Senate Bill 3 would require all power generators, transmission lines, natural gas facilities and pipelines to make upgrades for extreme weather. Its prospects are uncertain in the House, which is scheduled to take up a series of related, standalone bills on Tuesday.
Posted in
Winter Storm 2021
Warren Buffett group lobbying Texas lawmakers for deal to build $8 billion worth of power plants for emergency use
In return, lawmakers would agree to create a revenue stream for Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway through an additional charge on Texans’ power bills.
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Winter Storm 2021
California cities banned natural gas in new buildings. Texas wants to outlaw those bans.
A bill to stop cities from banning natural gas as a fuel source for heating homes and other buildings is being advanced as priority storm-response legislation following the February power outages.