Governor Does an About Face as Legislative Leaders Call For ERCOT Investigation

[TexasTowelie]

Just a day after Governor Greg Abbott blamed private businesses for the massive power outages that left Texans freezing in their homes and said the state was not at fault, he joined Legislative leaders Tuesday in calling for an investigation into Electric Reliability Council of Texas .

Saying Texans should never again suffer power outages as they have over the last few days, Abbott made his call for ERCOT reform an emergency item in the 2021 legislative session. In a press release, the governor was quoted as saying:

“The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has been anything but reliable over the past 48 hours. Far too many Texans are without power and heat for their homes as our state faces freezing temperatures and severe winter weather. This is unacceptable. Reviewing the preparations and decisions by ERCOT is an emergency item so we can get a full picture of what caused this problem and find long-term solutions. I thank my partners in the House and Senate for acting quickly on this challenge, and I will work with them to enhance Texas’ electric grid and ensure that our state never experiences power outages like this again.”

Abbott's action came after a call earlier Tuesday from Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) for an investigation into the massive power outages caused by the winter storms.

Phelan is asking the House State Affairs and Energy Resources committees to delve into how the ERCOT System handled the drain on its power grid due to the historic low temperatures across the state. In a press release he was quoted as saying:

“The extreme winter weather Texans experienced this week caused the lights to go off across the Lone Star State. I'm asking these two vital committees to convene a joint hearing on February 25th for the express purpose of helping Texans understand what went wrong and how we can prevent these conditions from happening again. We must cut through the finger-pointing and hear directly from stakeholders about the factors that contributed to generation staying down at a time when families needed it most, what our state can do to correct these issues, and what steps regulators and grid operators are taking to safeguard our electric grid.”

Read more: https://www.houstonpress.com/news/ercot-investiation-called-for-after-power-outages-11536684

[tanyev]

1. Now Republicans want regulation.

They’ll probably get over it once the temperatures goup.

[duforsure]

2. Abbott's up for re-election next year, and sure hope people vote him out,

He's like trump too much, a loser full of excuses.

[TxVietVet]

3. You hit the nail on the head.

He’s another conservanazi POS.

[Javaman]

4. aka asshole abbott did a cost benefit analysis on his political future and found it bleak if he

continued on his usually sycophantic path.

so like any self serving at all costs repuke opportunist, he changed his mind to fit the new meme for his own survival.

he will now come out an say he was always for regulation.