Texas Regulators Eye Deceptive Electricity Pricing
Texas regulators say they’re ready to crack down on power companies that try to rope consumers into buying electricity plans that are pricier than they appear. Full Story
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Texas Regulators Uncertain on Hunt Deal
With a deadline for action looming, Texas regulators are struggling to make up their minds about the finer points of the Ray L. Hunt family’s $18 billion proposal to buy and reshape Oncor, the state’s biggest electric utility. Full Story
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With Clean Power Plan Ruling, Texas Dodges Climate Action
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday to block President Obama’s Clean Power Plan has helped state Republicans — at least temporarily — dodge major action on climate change. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to media in June 2015.]()
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New in Trib+Water: Utilities Feel Drought's Impact
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: Past the worst of the drought, water utilities are still feeling the impact, talk of a statewide water grid resurfaces and an interview with filmmaker Merri Lisa Trigilio. Full Story
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U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Obama's Clean Power Plan
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a request from Texas and more than two dozen other states to block President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Full Story
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Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Video: A Conversation with GOP Railroad Commission Candidates
Full video of my 2/8 conversation with seven Republican candidates for Texas Railroad Commissioner. Full Story
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Railroad Commission Hopefuls Split on Donations
Candidates Ron Hale, Weston Martinez and Lance Christian say they would support a proposal barring railroad commissioners from accepting political donations from parties doing business before the commission. Full Story
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Hunt's Controversial Oncor Plan Could Spark Texas-Wide Trend
As Texas regulators weigh the Ray L. Hunt family’s plan to buy Oncor, the state's largest electric utility, and reorganize its corporate structure to save on taxes, at least one other giant utility is considering a similar move. Full Story
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Oncor: Hunt's Possible Merger Could Boost Rates
Oncor, the state’s largest utility, is warning state regulators that electric rates could increase for millions of Texas customers if they approve a complex reorganization plan offered by the Ray L. Hunt family. Full Story
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![Oncor CEO Bob Shapard testifies before the Texas Public Utility Commission on Jan. 11, 2016. He expressed concerns over the Hunt family's plan to buy Oncor, the state's largest electric utility.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Perry Says Texas Shouldn't Sweat Big Plunge in Oil Prices
Citing an increasingly diversified Texas economy, former Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday boasted about the “Texas Miracle” and said there’s no reason to be overly concerned about the plummeting price of oil. Full Story
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![Former Gov. Rick Perry gives the closing keynote address at the the Texas Public Finance Conference in Austin on Feb. 3, 2016.]()
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Oil Driller's Lawsuit Could Cost Texas Billions in Tax Refunds
What is the definition of "tangible personal property?" The arcane question is at the center of a lawsuit that could reap energy companies a multibillion-dollar windfall and drain the state's budget surplus. Full Story
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![An oil driller had filed a lawsuit over sales tax refunds. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar's office warned that a Texas loss could have spurred up to $4.4 billion in refund filings for 2017 alone.]()
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After Dour Report, Hegar Says Moody's "Should Know Better"
Comptroller Glenn Hegar launched a torrent of criticism at Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday after the credit rating agency released a report suggesting a drilling slowdown could eat up a projected $4 billion budget surplus by December. Full Story
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Report: Not Enough Done Since West Explosion
The Texas Legislature’s efforts to beef up state oversight and avert deadly disasters like the 2013 West fertilizer plant explosion have been “not entirely adequate,” the federal Chemical Safety Board says in its final report. Full Story
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![A vehicle near the remains of a fertilizer plant burning after an explosion in West, Texas, near Waco.]()
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Disconnect for Ted Cruz Between Pipeline Stance and Attack on Trump
Despite a recent ad bashing Donald Trump for employing eminent domain for a parking lot, Ted Cruz has backed the Keystone XL and other pipeline projects that would use the same controversial tool to displace landowners. Full Story
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![During a stop at the Spindletop Museum in Beaumont, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz pitched his energy policy bill, which he calls the American Energy Renaissance Act.]()
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New in Trib+Water: States Differ on Water Strategy
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: A new study highlights four states' differing approaches to water strategies, rapid growth poses new dangers to the Hill Country and an interview with Zachary Sugg of the University of Arizona. Full Story
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As Oil Prices Plunge, Hegar Asked if Budget Outlook is Too Rosy
While Comptroller Glenn Hegar tried to assure lawmakers that plummeting oil prices do not mean the Texas economy is headed for a nosedive, some worried Hegar was being overly optimistic. Full Story
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![Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is interviewed by Texas Tribune CEO and Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith on Jan. 21, 2016.]()
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Looking to Expand International Programs, UT-Austin Eyes Mexico
One of University of Texas at Austin President Greg Fenves' top priorities in his first year in office is to expand UT-Austin’s international presence. And a key part of that mission will be Mexico, which Fenves will visit this week. Full Story
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High Power Rates Spark Outrage in Rural Texas
"Politicians shouldn’t mess with churches or farmers, and this is a church full of farmers,” says Janey Burke of Roscoe's Champion Baptist Church, whose congregation can be counted among those outraged by Sharyland Utilities' bills. Full Story
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![Hugh and Nancy Raney in front of a pair of fields, one currently fallow, on their farm near Big Spring in January 2016. The couple had to stop farming part of their land when running the electric pumps to get well water to the fields became too expensive.]()
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Texas Loses Bid to Block Clean Power Plan
A federal appeals court on Thursday denied a request from Texas and other states to block President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, leaving the climate change rules in place as a legal challenge winds through the courts. Full Story
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Video: A Conversation with Glenn Hegar
Full video of my 1/21 conversation with Glenn Hegar, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Topics discussed: oil prices, taxes, jobs and economic incentives. Full Story
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