Harlingen, Texas (KVEO)—On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott declared the reform of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas an emergency item for the 2021 legislative session.
State Rep. Eddie Lucio III: ‘Everything that could go wrong, possibly went wrong’
The declaration marks the issue as a top priority. As of Tuesday morning, more than four million Texans were without power after planned rolling blackouts turned into prolonged outages and are still not back online.
Abbott declared reform of the council, which manages power flow in the state, an emergency item for the current legislative session.
“The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has been anything but reliable over the past 48 hours,” said Governor Abbott. “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.”
UPDATES: Power Outages continue across the Rio Grande Valley, possibly into Wednesday
ERCOT explained to KXAN, that the reason for the rolling blackouts in some areas has been to maintain the state’s energy grid.
What this means is ERCOT advises power companies on how much they have available to use safely at any given time.
Gov. Greg Abbott: ‘This is unacceptable’
State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, who spent more than 20 hours without power in his home, spoke to KVEO and said even the food supply chain is being interrupted.
Lucio III sits on the House State Affairs committee, which regulates power distribution and generation in Texas. He said the committee already has a hearing with Magness scheduled for next week.