Texas mayors to ERCOT: ‘Our residents deserve answers’ after winter storm outages
Decisions made by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ leadership left people across the state vulnerable during last week’s winter storm, Texas mayors said in letter to the nonprofit’s president and CEO.
The Monday letter signed by 16 Texas mayors, including Betsy Price of Fort Worth and Jeff Williams of Arlington, calls for a probe into ERCOT’s response to the storm.
“Our residents deserve answers — and they deserve reliable energy for their homes and businesses,” the letter reads.
Millions went without power after ERCOT, Texas’ power grid manager, initiated controlled outages during the storm. ERCOT has defended the decision as necessary to avoid a statewide blackout as demand for power outpaced supply.
But ERCOT’s policies didn’t seem to account for the sustained freezing temperatures, and Texans experienced “unpredictable and inconsistent blackouts” that they weren’t prepared for, the mayors said.
“At the same time, none of the information communicated by the agency aided our ability to prepare or support our residents, some of who continue to experience multiple days without electricity,” the letter reads.
The mayors are also concerned that ERCOT’s business plan “seems to prioritize revenue generation over other similarly important priorities.”
ERCOT understands the mayors’ concerns, said spokesperson Leslie Sopko. ERCOT is overseen by the Public Utility Commission, whose commissioners are appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
“We welcome the scrutiny and questions to help everyone understand out emergency process,” she said in a statement.
Lawmakers are set to meet Thursday for hearings on the power outages.
“ERCOT’s processes and protocols need a full public airing as well as action from state leadership that will prevent this type of disaster in the future,” the letter reads. ”Perhaps no one is better equipped to communicate the devastating impacts of the storm on Texans than those of us at the local level.”
