It sounds simple: Who owns the groundwater in Texas? But this issue, like others in the hot-button area of aquifer planning, is embroiled in an ongoing policy battle.
Kate Galbraith
Kate Galbraith covered energy and environment for the Tribune from 2010 to 2013. Previously she reported on clean energy for The New York Times from 2008 to 2009, serving as the lead writer for the Times' Green blog. She began her career at The Economist in 2000 and spent 2005 to 2007 in Austin as the magazine's Southwest correspondent. A Nieman fellow in journalism at Harvard University from 2007 to 2008, she has an undergraduate degree in English from Harvard and a master's degree from the London School of Economics. She is co-author of “The Great Texas Wind Rush,” a book about how the oil and gas state won the race to wind power.
Posted in
Energy
Blackouts Revive Debate Over Electric Deregulation
The power failures earlier this month have called into question one of Texas’ most basic tenets: that we do everything, including deregulation, better than anyone else.
Posted in
Energy
Power Generators on the Hot Seat
As hearings continued this afternoon at the Capitol, power plant owners tried to explain why so many of their operations failed during the Feb. 2 rolling blackouts.
Posted in
Energy
Senators Express Incredulity at Rolling Blackouts Hearing
At a state Senate hearing this morning on Texas’s rolling blackouts earlier this month, ERCOT released the first list — albeit a very partial one — of power plants that failed during the Feb. 2 crisis.
Posted in
Energy
For Power Grid Operator, the Reckoning Begins
The Texas electric grid operator is facing questions on a range of fronts, including its policy of not disclosing information about the power grid’s day-to-day operations and its inability to ensure adequate weatherization of power plants.
Posted in
Energy
High Above the Dunes, Wind Turbines Sprout Along the Gulf Coast
The vast majority of the state’s wind turbines have gone up in West Texas. But several big wind farms have recently begun operating in the general vicinity of Corpus Christi, and more coastal projects are likely on the way — to the distress of bird-lovers and the military.
Posted in
Guides
Texplainer: Will My Electricity Bill Go Up Because of the Blackouts?
Lots of Texans are asking that question in the wake of last week’s electricity mess, and nobody’s going to be happy with the answer, which is: “It depends” (if you ask the electricity industry); or “Yes” (if you ask consumer advocates).
Posted in
Energy
El Paso’s Water Crisis
El Pasoans are not supposed to shower today. Or wash dishes, or do the laundry. The city is in the third day of a severe water shortage, which was partly caused by last week’s rolling blackouts. Restrictions may be lifted tonight.
Posted in
Energy
Trip Doggett: Audio Interview
An audio interview with Trip Doggett, president and chief executive of the Texas grid operator, ERCOT
Posted in
Energy
Trip Doggett: The TT Interview
The chief executive of the Texas electric grid operator discusses what caused the rolling blackouts across the state on Wednesday — and why he doesn’t know if he lost power in his own home.
