Grid operator says Texas is better prepared for extreme cold this winter
ERCOT says conditions this winter could spark extreme cold, but additional power supply and continued weatherization efforts will lower the risk of power outages. Full Story
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![The ERCOT Board of Directors convene for a meeting at the organization's headquarters in Austin on Dec. 3, 2024.]()
Credit: Noah Devereaux for the Texas Tribune -
Crypto miners must register with state and reveal power usage under new Texas rule
The Public Utility Commission of Texas adopted the rule amid surging demand for power across the state and a growing crypto mining industry in Texas. Full Story
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![Pods full of computers that are submerged in fluid at the crypto mining facility, Helios, near Afton, on Sept. 15, 2022. The fluid keeps the computers well under manufacturer-designed temps to avoid overheating.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas reaches $12.6 million settlement in connection with 2019 Port Neches chemical plant explosion
The settlement directs TCP Group to repair equipment and to pay $12.6 million in penalties for clean air violations at its Southeast Texas facility. Full Story
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![A process tower flies through the air after exploding at the TPC Group Petrochemical Plant, after an earlier massive explosion sparked a blaze at the plant in Port Neches on Nov. 27, 2019.]()
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A West Texas lawmaker wants to redirect millions of tax dollars to plug abandoned wells, curb emissions
The proposal comes after the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency said it needs more money to plug wells that are in some instances erupting. Full Story
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![State Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, listens to Jazmin Cazares as she testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety at the state capitol in Austin on June 23, 2022.]()
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Republican Christi Craddick reelected to Railroad Commission, the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency
The three-member board oversees Texas’ oil and gas industry. The agency has faced criticism over safety concerns linked to fracking, well blowouts and groundwater protection. Full Story
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![Christi Craddick, chair of the Texas Railroad Commission, speaks to delegates at the 2024 Texas GOP Convention in San Antonio on May 25, 2024.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
State oil regulator requests $100 million to tackle West Texas well blowouts
Abandoned wells in the Permian Basin are increasingly erupting with briney, polluted water. The Texas Railroad Commission says it needs emergency money to respond. Full Story
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![Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick, then-Chairman Wayne Christian, and Commissioner Jim Wright listen during an RRC hearing in Austin on Nov. 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Dimitri Staszewski for The Texas Tribune -
A West Texas well that exploded has been sealed, cleanup will take months
While residents smelled rotten eggs, the state’s environmental agency said it has not detected any air pollution. Full Story
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![An oil well blowout shooting a mixture of oil, water, and gas over 100 feet in the air west of Toyah on Oct. 4, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel courtesy of DeSmog -
Level of oil and gas regulation at heart of Texas Railroad Commission race
Incumbent Christi Craddick is touting the health of the Texas energy industry and its impact on the economy. Her top opponent says regulation on the commission is too lax. Full Story
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![From left: Commission Shift Executive Director Virginia Palacios moderates a Texas Railroad Commission candidate forum with Libertarian Hawk Dunlap, Democrat Katherine Culbert and Green Party candidate Eddie Espinoza in Austin on Oct. 16, 2024. Republican incumbent Christi Craddick did not attend.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for the Texas Tribune -
“Should we be worried?”: Another well blowout in West Texas has a town smelling of rotten eggs
Experts warn that more blowouts should be expected unless oil and gas companies change their methods. Full Story
![An oil well blowout shooting a mixture of oil, water, and gas over 100 feet in the air west of Toyah on Oct. 4, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel courtesy of DeSmog -
Fight over West Texas nuclear waste plan to hit U.S. Supreme Court
A company has long pursued the plan to move “high-level” nuclear waste from power plants across the nation to a storage facility in Andrews County. Full Story
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![The entrance to the Waste Control Specialists site where radioactive and hazardous waste is being stored on Jan. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas overrides local lawsuits to negotiate smaller settlements with polluters, Harris County officials claim
A 2017 law lets the state block local governments, individuals and nonprofits from suing polluters and pursue the cases itself. Full Story
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![Smoke from the K-Solv Chemicals and Maritime Services fire in Channelview rises above the Battleship Texas and the Houston Ship Channel on April 7, 2021. The chemical facility erupted in flames after an explosion, with a large plume of black smoke that could be seen for miles.]()
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Legislature will review Deloitte’s contracts after public loan project scandal
The examination of Deloitte’s existing contracts comes after it failed to catch red flags in a company’s application for a loan to build or upgrade power plants in the state. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick adjourns for the day on the eighth day of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial on Sept. 14, 2023. Paxton’s defense attorneys rested their case that evening.]()
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How Texas weakened its own air pollution monitoring team
Former employees say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gutted the unit soon after the fracking boom swept the state oil industry. The operation never returned to what it was before. Full Story
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![Deer Park Stadium with refineries in the background on Feb. 26, 2023 in Deer Park.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
West Texans split on proposed direct air capture project that could be largest in U.S.
Residents were worried about the impact on their drinking water while business leaders were excited for the new jobs. Full Story
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![From left, EPA officials Ken Johnson, Sona Chaudhary, Thomas Rucki and Scott Ellinger listen to testimony from West Texas residents during a public engagement hearing about the proposed construction of a series of carbon capture plants by Occidental Petroleum October 3, 2024, in Odessa.]()
Credit: Vincent Bao for The Texas Tribune -
The largest carbon capture project in the U.S. could be in West Texas. Do residents want it?
If approved, the Oxy carbon capture plant will be the largest in Texas. Critics worry the technology is not enough to beat back climate change. Full Story
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![Petra Nova CCS Facility at NRG Power Plant in Richmond, Texas, on May 18, 2018.]()
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Texas’ economy could take a hit if Houston dockworkers’ strike persists
Workers who load and unload shipping containers from cargo ships are at an impasse in labor contract negotiations. Full Story
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![Refinery complexes along the Houston Ship Channel on Sept. 7, 2016.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Fourteen years after BP oil spill, Galveston scientists are striving to save the Gulf’s deep-sea coral
The massive 2010 oil spill damaged or killed coral in the Gulf of Mexico. Now some of the $20 billion settlement is helping researchers learn how to help the coral recover. Full Story
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![Muricea pendula coral at NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center Wet Lab, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Galveston. (Antranik Tavitian / Houston Landing)]()
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Ken Paxton sues Biden administration over listing Texas lizard as endangered
The lawsuit claims federal regulators have undermined the Texas oil and gas industry by misusing environmental law, negatively impacting drilling and production. Full Story
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![Dunes Sagebrush Lizard.]()
Credit: Ryan Hagerty/USFWS -
Study finds levels of a dangerous gas “off the scales” in Central Texas oilfield
The smell of oil wells has long permeated Caldwell County, near Austin and San Antonio. Now researchers have documented wells releasing dangerous amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas. Full Story
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![A cow next to a non-producing oil well in Caldwell County. Gas was venting out of the well even though oil is not being produced.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Abigail Edgar -
Texas lawmakers question agency's ability to oversee $5 billion energy loan program after initial glitch
Lawmakers tasked the Public Utility Commission with overseeing the Texas Energy Fund, though the agency has no experience running a loan program. Full Story
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![Public Utilities Commission Chairman Thomas Gleeson speaks during a meeting on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Leaders of various energy companies spoke to the committee about the status of their companies in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. (Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune