Politically powerful natural gas production and transportation companies, along with their regulators, appear to have so far escaped the wrath of the governor and the Legislature in the aftermath of the Texas power outages. Full Story
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The Public Utility Commission ignored its independent monitor’s recommendation to retroactively reduce the market price for power for at least part of the week of the winter storm. Full Story
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An independent market monitor for the Public Utility Commission of Texas wrote in a letter that the power grid operator kept market prices too high for nearly two days after widespread outages ended. Full Story
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Bill Magness is the latest official to depart following the winter storm catastrophe. Full Story
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Arthur D'Andrea replaces DeAnn Walker, who resigned earlier this week as chair of the Public Utility Commission. The governor appoints commissioners to lead the PUC, which oversees the state’s grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Full Story
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On Monday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for PUC Chair DeAnn Walker and Electric Reliability Council of Texas CEO Bill Magness to resign. Full Story
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Patrick's statements come after the officials testified for hours late last week in committee hearings as state lawmakers grilled them over the power grid failures. Full Story
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Griddy made headlines for sending massive bills to customers after a winter storm sent wholesale electricity skyrocketing. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers have questioned and criticized the Electric Reliability Council of Texas for days about the near-collapse of the state’s power grid last week. Full Story
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Lawmakers will continue asking a litany of officials and executives how last week's power outages happened. Legislators in both chambers spent more than 12 hours investigating the disruptions Thursday. Full Story
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While these plans are allowed under state law, the Texas Public Utility Commission said that “an influx of complaints into our Customer Protection Division has caused concerns that questionable business practices might be exacerbating the situation.” Full Story
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Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said operators should have been prepared after 2011’s hard freeze. Travis County District Attorney José Garza told local media that his office will determine whether criminal charges should be filed against any person or entity. Full Story
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Texas regulators and lawmakers knew about the grid’s vulnerabilities for years, but time and again they furthered the interests of large electricity providers. Full Story
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Electric bills are likely to rise for everyone, experts and consumer advocates say, but some Texans on variable rate contracts have been hit with immediate, massive price spikes. Lawmakers and the governor have promised to help, but haven't said how. Full Story
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Texans face a cascade of frustrations and expenses as the state tries to recover from the storm. Insurance companies are bracing for claims rivaling those after major hurricanes, and homeowners are trying to find plumbers and electricians. Full Story
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As Texans struggle with terrible winter weather, electric utility failures affecting more than 4 million households, a pandemic and a botched vaccine rollout, a natural question arises: Do state leaders know what they're doing? Full Story
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Texans stuck at home need high-speed internet for schooling, for work, for shopping, for medicine, for entertainment — the live, in-person activities we all took for granted a year ago. Sounds simple enough, but there’s a lot to untangle. Full Story
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A state fund that subsidizes rural network service is bleeding money. Now the state is drastically cutting the amount of money that it typically pays out to these service providers. Full Story
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Once the program ends, customers could be on the hook for partial back payments. Full Story
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Rural Texans have been clamoring for high-speed internet services for years, and the requirements of a pandemic — work, schools and medicine — have raised the stakes. But a state fund that helps provide those services is in financial trouble. Full Story
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