Analysis: Texas leaders’ closely watched breakfast club
One way to check the political mood when the Texas Legislature is meeting is to watch the state's top three leaders — and how their Wednesday breakfasts are going. Full Story
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![Newly-elected House Speaker Dade Phelan speaks to the House of Representatives during opening ceremonies as the 2021 legislative session begins. Jan. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/CapitolPressPhoto/Pool -
Texas’ last Public Utility Commission member resigns at Gov. Greg Abbott’s request
Arthur D’Andrea was the only remaining member of the three-seat commission that regulates the state’s electric, telecommunication, water and sewer utilities. Full Story
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![Arthur D’Andrea Chair of Public Utility Commission of Texas.]()
Credit: Texas Public Utility Commission -
Griddy Energy customers may be off the hook for exorbitant energy bills after company files bankruptcy
If approved, former Griddy customers might not have to pay their outstanding bills, some of which cost more than $15,000. Still, many customers have already had their bank accounts drafted or credit cards charged for thousands of dollars. Full Story
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![Karen Knox, a special education teacher at L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, received a bill of over $7K from Griddy for less than a week of electricity during the winter storm.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
At least 57 people died in the Texas winter storm, mostly from hypothermia
The deaths occurred in at least 25 counties. And 25 of the fatalities occurred in Harris County. Some Texas deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning and medical equipment failure. Full Story
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![An eastbound view of East Stassney Lane in south Austin on Feb. 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate scrambles to advance bill that would force ERCOT to reprice energy charges from winter storm
Senate Bill 2142, sponsored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, had not even been filed when the day started Monday, but lawmakers suspended their rules to hastily push it through the Senate. Full Story
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![The Senate floor on March 2, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Dan Patrick’s interrogation about a freeze warms speculation about 2022
An unusual appearance by the lieutenant governor at a Senate hearing looked like a tough session for one of Gov. Greg Abbott's appointees — and raised speculation about political tension between the state's top two elected officials. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the dais on the Senate floor on May 25, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick focuses scorn on Public Utility Commission after winter storm, testing Gov. Greg Abbott
Abbott has previously directed much of the blame for the storm’s power outages on the state’s electrical grid operator. Full Story
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![An eastbound view of East Stassney Lane in South Austin on Feb. 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Government budgets looked terrible when COVID-19 started. A federal windfall has flipped the outlook.
Texas lawmakers expected to be sweating over a very tight budget right now, after strong early signs that the pandemic would stall the economy. But an improved economy and a huge infusion of federal aid is erasing those fears. Full Story
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![A view of the rotunda inside the state Capitol on the opening day of the Legislative Session. Jan. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
After Texas' power grid failure, some in Lubbock worry about the city's plans to join ERCOT
The city of Lubbock made plans to join ERCOT in 2015. After last month's winter storm, some feel anxious about the move. Full Story
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![Downtown Lubbock.]()
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In oil-rich Texas, GOP lawmakers push bill to punish Wall Street for fossil fuel disinvestments
The bill would direct state investment funds to divest from companies that cut ties with fossil fuel companies, pitting Texas against some increasingly carbon-conscious Wall Street investors. Full Story
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![A pump jack and a gas flare in the Eagle Ford oil patch south of San Antonio.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spars with last remaining Public Utility Commission member over readjusting energy prices during winter storm
The state’s energy grid operator overcharged power companies by roughly $3 billion after the winter storm — not $16 billion, the chairman of Texas’ utility regulator said Thursday. Full Story
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![Electrical workers repair a power line in Austin on Feb. 18, 2021. Many Texas residents are still without power, and many don't have clean drinking water or working water at all.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: One way or another, Texans will get the bill for fixing the electric grid
It's going to be expensive to make sure the state's electricity stays on during winter storms like the one that blacked out most of Texas last month, and the money will come, one way or another, from average Texans. Full Story
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![Josh Olszewski cooks eggs over a a grill after his apartment lost power due to the severe winter storm that hit the state. Feb. 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texans recovering from COVID-19 relied on machines to help them breathe. Then the power went out.
After COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked, the number of Texans dependent on home oxygen equipment was at “an all-time high” when a winter storm overwhelmed the state’s power grid in February, leaving many struggling for air. Full Story
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![RICHMOND, TX - MARCH 3: Mauricio Marin poses for a portrait at his home in Richmond, TX, on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
Mauricio Marin thought his worst days were behind him after his month-long stay in a Covid ICU late last year. Doctors sent the 44-year-old home to his wife and kids in Fort Bend County with oxygen tanks, a CPAP machine and strict instructions to avoid cold weather and the flu. But after four days mostly without power, no heat and inadequate oxygen that left him gasping for air, he told his wife, “Honey, at least I’m going to die with you and my kids and not alone at the hospital.’”
Marin survived the ordeal, only thanks to a neighbor who showed up at the last moment with a backup oxygen tank, but his doctors say days spent shivering in a cold house without supplemental oxygen have vastly set back his already tenuous recovery.]()
Credit: Brandon Thibodeaux for NBC News -
Just one Public Utility Commission member remains after another resignation in aftermath of winter storm
Shelly Botkin's departure comes a week after the commission's chair, DeAnn Walker, also stepped down. Full Story
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![Power lines along a row of homes in South Austin. Many residents experienced power outages due to the winter storm that rolled through Texas. Feb. 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers plan slate of bills in response to power outages, but experts skeptical there will be meaningful change
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday also said he wants lawmakers to prioritize correcting any ERCOT-related billing errors, including inaccurately high electricity charges. That came after the Public Utility Commission said it will not fix ERCOT's $16 billion power billing mistake. Full Story
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![Snow at the Capitol in Austin on Feb. 15, 2021.]()
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Analysis: After the blackouts, a whiff of the 2022 elections in Texas
A proposed remodeling of the state’s electricity grid from Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller might be more than it seems. It reads like a campaign’s position paper. Full Story
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![Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller addressed delegates at the Texas Republican Convention. June 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
A Mexican restaurant in Houston is keeping its mask rule. People threatened to call ICE on the staff.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to lift the statewide mask mandate has not come easily for many businesses that are navigating enforcement of mask rules while facing backlash. “It was just horrific,” said Monica Richards, co-owner of Picos. Full Story
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![A sign outside of a store in Downtown Austin asking customers to wear a mask inside the business on March 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Watch: “It’s getting worse.” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner discusses the fight against climate change.
Turner was named chair of the Climate Mayors coalition in January. At a Texas Tribune event Thursday, he discussed preparing cities for climate emergencies. Full Story
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Oil and gas interests left to “self-regulate” in aftermath of winter storm as Texas politicians pile on to ERCOT
Politically powerful natural gas production and transportation companies, along with their regulators, appear to have so far escaped the wrath of the governor and the Legislature in the aftermath of the Texas power outages. Full Story
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![A gas flare burns bright on a production site northeast of Andrews, Texas.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Texas will not fix ERCOT's $16 billion power billing mistake
The Public Utility Commission ignored its independent monitor’s recommendation to retroactively reduce the market price for power for at least part of the week of the winter storm. Full Story
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![An Austin Energy truck heads eastbound on East Stassney Lane in Austin after a severe snowstorm hit Texas on Feb. 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune