The best of our best content from Feb. 14 to 18, 2011.
Energy
In-depth reporting on oil, gas, renewable power, and policies shaping the future of energy in Texas from The Texas Tribune.
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Energy
Energy or Railroad: Are the Politics Different?
What’s in a name? The Texas Railroad Commission — and the elected officials who run it — may soon find out.
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Energy
Are TX Senators Influenced By Power PAC Money?
This week, lawmakers from two senate committees called the power players in the electricity industry to Austin to grill them about the rolling blackouts on Feb. 2. As it turns out, many of those executives and their companies’ PACs have contributed thousands to the senators who were questioning them.
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Energy
ERCOT Releases Updated List of Failed Generators
The state grid operator on Wednesday released an updated — albeit still partial — list of power plants that went down during the statewide rolling blackouts on Feb. 2.
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Energy
At Blackout Hearing, Big Political Donors Grilled
The big power companies in Texas on the hot seat during a Senate hearing about this month’s rolling blackouts have donated more than $400,000 since 2000 to members of the two committees asking questions. The donations are part of nearly $4 million in campaign money the companies and their employees have spent on political candidates during that time.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Criminal Justice
Texas “On the Brink,” Legislative Group Says
Texas’ superlatives are nothing to brag about, according to the fifth edition of “Texas on the Brink,” an annual review that ranks the state on dozens of factors ranging from health insurance to voter turnout.
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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.