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Gov. Greg Abbott held a meeting with other state leaders on Saturday to discuss the spikes some Texans are seeing in their utility bills after a massive winter storm that caused power outages across the state for days.
The meeting came after numerous reports of Texans receiving exorbitant electricity bills, despite having no power during the storm. One Texan received an electricity bill of $ 16,752, according to The New York Times. Not every resident will see the spikes in their accounts.
In a statement, Abbott called the meeting productive, saying leaders are “acting quickly to alleviate this problem and will continue to work together throughout the week on solutions.” The meeting took place via a conference call.
February Winterstorm 2021
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When will my water return? How can I get water in the meantime?
We do not know. State and city officials urge patience – telling Texans who have running water to cook it. Take the necessary precautions to prepare for a few days without water. For example, officials in Austin said on Feb. 19 that the restoration of water services would likely be a multi-day process for the entire city. We’ve got some resources here, but the best way to find free water is to check your local media.
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Will I get a high energy bill?
Could be. People across the state have received high utility bills. According to The New York Times, a resident received a $ 16,752 electricity bill. Gov. Greg Abbott has said his office is working with lawmakers to cut bills. Not everyone will have to deal with massive beak spikes. Austin, for example, has flat base rates. If you have any concerns, please contact your energy supplier. Read more here.
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How can I get updates?
Sign up for news updates from us by texting “hello” to 512-967-6919 or by visiting this page.
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I had no power for more than a day. Why do people call these rollout outages?
When the state power grid operator began implementing rollout interruptions at 1:25 a.m. CT on Feb. 15, they were intended as a temporary measure to deal with an extreme winter event. Instead, some Texans are without power for much longer, days without electricity instead of the originally planned 45 minutes at a time. The power grid is designed to be in high demand in the summer, when Texans turn on their air conditioning at home. But some energy sources that power the grid in the summer are offline in the winter. So when Texans stayed home during the storm on Sunday and demanded record amounts of electricity, the state’s power grid couldn’t keep up.
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Wait, we have our own power grid? Why?
Yes, Texas has its own electrical grid operated by an agency called ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The history is long, but the short version is: Texas has its own network to avoid dealing with federal regulations. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Power Act, which charged the Federal Power Commission with overseeing the sale of electricity between states. But Texas utilities don’t cross state lines. Founded in 1970, after a major power outage in the Northeast in November 1965, ERCOT was tasked with managing grid reliability in accordance with national standards. Note that Texas is not all on the same grid. El Paso is on a different grid, as is the Upper Panhandle and part of East Texas.
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I read online that wind turbines are the reason we lost power. Is that true?
No. The lost wind energy is only a fraction of the reduction in production capacity that has caused millions of Texans to fail. An official for the Texas Electric Reliability Council said on Feb. 16 that 16 gigawatts of renewable energy generation, primarily wind, was offline. Nearly double that, 30 gigawatts, was lost to thermal sources, including gas, coal and nuclear power. “Texas is a gas state,” said Michael Webber, a professor of energy resources at the University of Texas at Austin. “Gas is failing in the most spectacular way right now.”
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How can I stay warm? How can I help others?
The National Weather Service encourages people to close blinds and curtains, congregate in one room if possible and close doors to others, and put towels in the cracks under the doors. Wear loose-fitting layers of warm, lightweight clothing. Eating snacks and staying hydrated will help warm up the body. Some cities provide warming centers and transportation if needed – find local resources here. If you have resources or can make financial donations, find nonprofits that help people here.
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See more coverage
Along with Abbott were also the heads of the Senate and the House – Republicans Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, respectively – on the phone.
Members of the two houses also took part in the meeting, including chairpersons of the Senate’s Treasury and Home Credit Committees, as well as chairmen of the Senate’s Business and Commerce and House Energy Resources committees.
Discussion with lawmakers, according to the governor’s cabinet, was focused on calculating the cost of those skyrocketing utility bills and “how the state can help reduce this burden.”
Abbott’s office also announced on Sunday that the governor would provide an update on efforts to get water and other supplies to communities in the state at 2:30 p.m. central time.
Later this week, House and Senate committees will meet to investigate how outages happened and what role entities such as Texas’s Electric Reliability Council played in those power outages.
“On Thursday, the questioning of affected stakeholders will begin to find out if something went wrong, what went wrong, who is to blame, and more importantly, what solutions we can do as a state legislature … to ensure that this absolutely never happens again, ” said State Representative Craig Goldman, a Fort Worth Republican who chairs the House Energy Resources Committee, during an NBC-DFW interview aired Sunday.
Disclosure: New York Times is a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, independent news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no part in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a full list here.