Latest News

November 8, 2021

U.S. Energy Secretary Says President Biden ‘Looking’ At Tapping Strategic Reserve As Fuel Prices Rise

msn
According to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden is considering in tapping into the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve amid rising crude oil prices.
November 8, 2021

Texas officials get voter disapproval on power grid, abortion, poll finds

The Texas Tribune
Texas voters have a net disapproval for how state leaders have handled the reliability of the electricity grid, abortion and property taxes, according to a new […]
November 7, 2021

Texas faces ‘generational’ energy problems that it doesn’t know how to fix

Dallas Morning News Online
Winter is coming. It’s an unavoidable truth hovering over Austin as the Texas energy market’s governing bodies attempt to fix an aching electric grid in a […]
November 7, 2021

CPS Energy in the middle: Bondholders want rate hike ASAP; CPS customers not so much

San Antonio Express-News
Wall Street wants CPS Energy — financially damaged by the pandemic and astronomical costs stemming from February’s winter blast — to raise rates on customers as […]
November 2, 2021

Report: Winter freeze cost Texas up to $130 billion

Chron
Texas’ catastrophic February winter storm left over 200 people dead and millions without power for days on end, and a new report from the state comptroller’s office attempts […]
November 1, 2021

How Different Power Grid Operators Are Approaching Renewable-Storage Hybrid Participation

Power Magazine
Pairing renewable resources with energy storage systems makes a lot of sense. However, grid operators are still developing frameworks for handling these hybrid projects but they […]
November 1, 2021

Texas power plants need to ‘winterize.’ But what does that mean?

KUT 90.5
Winter is coming and power plants across Texas are in a rush to “winterize.” That’s a word you’ve probably heard a lot since February’s big blackout; winterizing […]
October 31, 2021

Blackouts Are Plaguing Our Electric Grid. Congress Must Act To Assure The Grid’s Resilience And Reliability

Forbes
These policies are not just wrongheaded, they are deeply dangerous. Banning the use of liquid and gaseous fuels will reduce America’s energy security because it will […]
October 30, 2021

Texas Energy Blackout Risks: Grid Remains Vulnerable to Outages

Bloomberg
Damages topped $20 billion. And Texas’s leaders vowed to do everything within their power to prevent such a crisis from happening again. But they didn’t do everything. And […]
October 29, 2021

The Texas grid can survive a boom in cryptocurrency mining-but for how long?

Chron
Cryptocurrency miners are eyeing the lone star state and its low-cost energy as a means for growing the industry, but Texas’ fragile power grid might buckle under […]
October 28, 2021

What a $2B Texas project says about U.S. quest for CO2-free grid

Energy Wire
After a dozen years, multiple energy crises, regulatory delays and political turnover, construction of a novel 400-mile power line connecting Texas to the Southeast is finally […]
October 27, 2021

Will Texas Fix Its Grid? Here is the Midterm Report Card

Texas Public Policy Foundation
First, the PUC should be applauded for considering every aspect of the ERCOT market design. If the prevailing media narrative and much of the legislative impetus […]
October 24, 2021

Extreme weather is causing longer power outages. States and utilities can’t agree on solutions

The Washington Post
Across the nation, severe weather fueled by climate change is pushing aging electrical systems past their limits, often with deadly results. Last year, the average American […]
October 24, 2021

February freeze led to hundreds of requests for whole-home generators

Austin American-Statesman Online
“We are backlogged 200 installations,” Rizzo said. “And the factories have not been able to keep up with the increase in demand across Texas and in the […]
October 22, 2021

Winter is Coming, You May be Ready, but ERCOT May Not – Reform Austin

Reform Austin
According to the Energy Information Administration, over half of U.S. homeowners that heat their homes primarily with natural gas may expect to pay 30% more on […]
October 21, 2021

Texas power grid: ERCOT keeping close eye on energy supply

WFAA 8 ABC
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is keeping a close eye on the supply and demand of the power grid, spurred by razor-thin margins on Wednesday. At […]
October 21, 2021

Texas power companies to better prepare plants for winter under new rule | The Texas Tribune

The Texas Tribune
The state Public Utility Commission adopted a rule — which experts first recommended a decade ago following a winter storm — requiring power companies to use […]
October 21, 2021

Impending CPS rate hike could stall after CEO resigns

San Antonio Express-News
CPS Energy CEO Paula Gold-Williams’ pending resignation is magnifying the turmoil inside the city-owned utility, whose support among customers and elected officials has fallen in recent […]
October 21, 2021

Texas PUC rewrites winter electricity rules but gives generators an out

Houston Chronicle
Among the new requirements, generators will be required to shelter systems from wind, protect sensors for components vital to cold-weather operations, inspect insulation, establish schedules for […]
October 21, 2021

Oil industry helped handpick members of Texas’ power grid advisory group

The Texas Tribune
Oil and gas industry groups provided a list of names to the Railroad Commission for appointment to a council formed in response to the February power […]