In Texas, the legal and political tension between state lawmakers and its populous, “blue” urban cities and counties is nothing new, but the intensity of this ongoing power struggle has, by any measure, increased in recent history.
A couple of months ago, I wrote a check for about $200 to my pool company for the monthly maintenance.
During the 88th regular session, a legislative fight about how the Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) is financing a $7 billion + light rail project in Austin concluded with a sustained point-of-order brought by Representative John Bucy in the final days of the session.
During the recent winter storm Heather (January 13-16), the Texas grid was able to produce enough energy to meet the demand, but just barely.
Next week, the Texas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments to determine the legality of a 2021 Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) rule that arbitrarily raised the price of electricity to $9,000 per megawatt hour during Winter Storm Uri—about four times the market price at the time.
Beyond immigration concerns, Texas is grappling with a significant and heartbreaking challenge.
Concerns over the future reliability and affordability of Texas’ electric grid were brought to the forefront with the recent resignation of the person hired by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) to monitor the performance of the Texas electricity market.
The following op-ed was written by Dean Foreman, Ph.
Public information belongs to us, the public.
When the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the operator of most of the Texas electric grid, declared an Energy Emergency Alert 2 on Sept.