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April 6, 2021

Natural gas producers hit the jackpot during the power outages, but they failed Texas

The Dallas Morning News
Millions of Texans went without electricity for days in the cold. Winter Storm Uri left 111 dead. Property damage totaled $130 billion. Yet, many natural gas […]
April 3, 2021

Standing up to an energy giant: Kansas town claims BP gouged on gas in Feb. freeze

The Wichita Eagle
And it specifically says in the time of a disaster, you may not engage in, as a supplier, profiteering and price gouging.” That law basically limits […]
April 2, 2021

Natural Gas Producers Are Getting a Pass From the Lege After the Blackouts

Texas Monthly
…commissioners are allowed to earn income from the industry they regulate. In 2019, Craddick and her father, Representative Tom Craddick, a Republican from Midland, earned more […]
March 31, 2021

Texas Bill Would Require Pipelines to Winterize

Nearly half of Texas’s power-plant capacity went down in February after a severe winter storm froze equipment, halted gas supplies and triggered blackouts that left more […]
March 31, 2021

Analysis: After statewide power outages, Texas lawmakers reconsider an ounce of prevention

They left it to the Public Utility Commission and the Texas Railroad Commission, industry-friendly regulators who didn’t require the kinds of preparation that might have kept […]
March 29, 2021

Big Texas energy companies may become more powerful after historic winter storm

Melissa Smith lives in the Dallas area, and she’s a customer of TXU Energy, a Vistra subsidiary. After her home flooded, Smith asked her husband to […]
March 28, 2021

Why didn’t ERCOT put a stop to the massive electricity price spikes during the outages?

The Dallas Morning News
But power producers that had successfully served the ERCOT market throughout the emergency timeframe — having previously experienced windfall profitability as a result of supplying critically-needed […]
March 26, 2021

After slow start, Texas lawmakers pick up the pace on GOP priorities as legislative session passes halfway mark

Texas Tribune
Abbott’s agenda got a shakeup, though, following the winter storm that battered the state weeks after his State of the State speech, killing at least 111 […]
March 26, 2021

More information needed to learn from ERCOT February energy crisis: consultant

S&P Global
A less expensive and ultimately more effective way to prevent or reduce the likelihood of another such crisis would be to significantly increase spending on energy […]
March 24, 2021

Lawmakers need to stay focused on real reform after winter storm

Houston Chronicle
It’s all too easy to become cynical about the Texas Legislature. After all, the entire disaster unfolded in part because lawmakers basically ignored the recommendations made […]
March 24, 2021

Watch: U.S. House committee hearing on Texas’ massive power outages during deadly winter storm

The Texas Tribune
Policy observers blamed the power system failure on the legislators and state agencies, who they say did not properly heed the warnings of previous storms.
March 23, 2021

Texas-based natural gas company sends Shawnee Mission School District $1.6 million bill for February

KMBC News
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said Monday that KCI’s gas bill for February increased to $2.4 million. The bill from the airport’s Texas-based gas provider was […]
March 23, 2021

CPS Energy sues 15 natural gas companies for ‘opportunistic price gouging’ during winter storm

San Antonio Current
“A good portion of that is because they did not deliver all of the gas that we’d asked for,” Gold-Williams told council members.  Here’s a full […]
March 23, 2021

‘Disaster should not be a jackpot,’ says San Antonio utility in lawsuit naming Energy Transfer, two others

The Dallas Morning News
“The aftermath of a declared statewide disaster should not be a ‘jackpot’ for gas sellers,” CPS said in a lawsuit against Energy Transfer obtained by Bloomberg.
March 23, 2021

TX House to take up power grid bills, but not Senate repricing bill

CBS Austin
Last week, this committee listened to testimony on SB 2142, which was the bill that would have required the PUC to force ERCOT to correct its […]
March 23, 2021

ChartWatch: Companies turn to debt markets, courts to address Texas freeze costs

S&P Global
“Imagine going to the gasoline pump during a natural disaster and seeing the price of a gallon of gas at about $348 or about $7,000 for […]
March 22, 2021

Even Texans with fixed electricity plans may face high energy costs due to this fee

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“I didn’t have any concerns for myself,” Helton said. “It didn’t even cross my mind that I, as a fixed rate customer with a big company, […]
March 18, 2021

TEXAS VIEW: ERCOT, PUC can’t just shrug off $16 billion in overcharges

OA Online
Dozens of natural gas companies failed to do the paperwork that would keep their facilities powered during an emergency, so utilities cut their electricity at the […]
March 18, 2021

Electricity Problems Are Bigger in Texas

The Regulatory Review
The legislation, however, appears to have done little to push state regulators towards learning from their past mistakes. Despite a decade to act, state regulators repeatedly […]
March 18, 2021

Ousted Public Utility Commission chairman admits he favors helping investors, not the public

The Dallas Morning News
This is what corruption looks like.  In a leaked recording of a 48-minute conference call with investors, first reported by Texas Monthly, Public Utility Commission Chairman […]