Texas Legislature advances bills to shield oil and gas from climate initiatives
“Oil and gas is the lifeblood of the Texas economy,” state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said on the House floor Monday. Full Story
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![Oil pumpjacks in Andrews County, northeast of Kermit.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House targets power grid flaw that cut electricity to natural gas facilities and worsened February blackouts
The lower chamber gave initial approval Monday to a series of bills responding to this year’s catastrophic power outages during a deadly winter storm. Full Story
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![A mobile home park is covered with snow as a massive winter storm continues to engulf Texas, causing widespread power and water outages across the state. Feb 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Despite natural gas failures during winter storm, Texas lawmakers target renewable energy in the aftermath
As lawmakers advance bills targeting renewable energy sources, experts call the efforts “discriminatory” and “politically motivated.” Full Story
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![Wind turbines operated at sunrise in the Permian Basin, an area of oil and natural gas production, in Big Spring in 2019.]()
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Texas energy companies push back against Berkshire Hathaway’s $8 billion plan for backup power
Revenue for 10 emergency power plants would come from a monthly charge on Texans’ power bills. The proposal is just one of several bills lawmakers are considering after February's massive power outages. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol grounds are covered in snow on Feb. 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Another Texas power outage "appears unlikely" this week, but severe weather this summer could prompt an electricity crisis
The state's grid operator included extreme weather scenarios in its early summer assessment and found that a combination of a severe drought, heat wave and low winds could lead to more power outages. Experts warn this summer could be hot and dry, enhanced by climate change. Full Story
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![A boat traveled along Lake Travis during a drought in the summer of 2011. Drier than normal weather in Texas with no precipitation for several months had caused lakes and rivers to run dry.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Joshua Lott -
ERCOT asked Texans to conserve power as electric grid again struggled to keep up with demand
A higher than expected amount of plant outages for maintenance created tight conditions for Texas' power grid. It returned to normal late Tuesday evening. Full Story
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![Reliability Coordinators monitored the state power grid during a tour of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) command center in Taylor in 2012.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Julia Robinson -
Texas lawmakers want to ban dangerous radioactive waste. The proposal would give a nuclear waste company a big financial break.
A bill advancing in the House seeks to ban spent nuclear fuel, one of the most dangerous types of radioactive waste, from coming to Texas. Full Story
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![The entrance to the Waste Control Specialists site, where radioactive and hazardous waste is being stored on Jan. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers want to prevent another power crisis. But the legislation doesn't go far enough to do that, critics say.
Some say lawmakers should go further to ensure power plants can withstand increased weather due to climate change. And they worry that much of the legislation advancing will be up to the Public Utility Commission to enforce. Full Story
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![The City of San Marcos provided three San Marcos C.I.S.D. school buses, parked at the San Marcos Activity Center, as warming centers for residents needing shelter from the cold on Feb 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Sweeping legislation to overhaul state’s electricity market in response to winter storm heads to Texas House after Senate's unanimous approval
Senate Bill 3 would require all power generators, transmission lines, natural gas facilities and pipelines to make upgrades for extreme weather. Its prospects are uncertain in the House, which is scheduled to take up a series of related, standalone bills on Tuesday. 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 -
At least 111 people died in Texas during winter storm, most from hypothermia
The newly revised number is nearly twice the 57 that state health officials estimated last week and will likely continue to grow. Full Story
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![The Blanco Vista neighborhood of San Marcos is blanketed with several inches of snow as a massive winter weather system causes power outages across Texas on Feb. 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
California cities banned natural gas in new buildings. Texas wants to outlaw those bans.
A bill to stop cities from banning natural gas as a fuel source for heating homes and other buildings is being advanced as priority storm-response legislation following the February power outages. Full Story
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![Construction workers work on an office building on the corner or Metric and Parmer in Austin on June 18, 2020.]()
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Texas power crisis prompts Texas House panel to advance several bills, including one requiring plants to prep for extreme weather
The bills, which include mandating weatherization of power plants, reforming the ERCOT board and creating a state emergency communications system, are “a work in progress.” Full Story
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![The Blanco Vista neighborhood of San Marcos is blanketed with several inches of snow as a massive winter weather system causes power outages across Texas on Feb. 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Biden administration demanding reinstatement of Keystone XL Pipeline permit
Twenty-one states signed onto the multi-state lawsuit led by Texas and Montana. Full Story
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![A depot used to store pipes for Transcanada Corp's planned Keystone XL oil pipeline is seen in Gascoyne, North Dakota, on Nov. 14, 2014.]()
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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 -
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 -
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 -
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.]()
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Watch: Texas farmers start to replant after winter freeze left "total devastation"
Johnson’s Backyard Garden, an organic farm near Austin, lost almost its entire crop during February's devastating winter storm. Full Story
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![Farmworkers harvest a small patch of carrots that survived the winter storm at Johnson’s Backyard Garden, east of Austin, on Feb. 22, 2021. The organic farm experienced a near-total loss of their crops after a winter storm ravaged Texas.]()
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U.S. House Oversight Committee investigating operator of Texas’ power grid
A subcommittee chair wrote in a letter to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas that the grid’s failures were “costly” and disproportionately affected low-income communities and communities of color. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol. Democratic members of the House prepare articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 12, 2021.]()
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Texas workers struggle to pay for groceries and rent after losing wages during winter storm
Many hourly wage employees across the state lost working hours last week during the storm and power outage disaster. Now, they’re left with a choice between paying for rent or groceries. Full Story
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![A sign informs customers of a store closure due to the recent winter snowstorm in South Austin. Feb. 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune