Reflecting on Texas power outage, ERCOT CEO says he wouldn’t do anything differently
Texas lawmakers on Thursday vowed to get to the bottom of what went wrong when millions lost power during last week’s winter storm.
“To call this unacceptable would be an understatement,” said Rep. Chris Paddie, a Marshall Republican who chairs the House’s State Affairs Committee.
Senate and House committees convened Thursday to hear from energy industry officials, including those from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the Public Utility Commission. Much of the discussion was fact-finding in nature as legislators looked to learn how components of the industry interact and what led to the widespread outages.
Conversations ranged from communication shortfalls and regulatory authority to the winterization of generators, climate change and renewable and thermal energy sources.
Testifying before the Senate Business and Commerce committee, ERCOT CEO Bill Magness said the outages were necessary to prevent a complete blackout across the state.
“I feel a great deal of responsibility and remorse about the event,” Magness said as he was grilled by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. “We’ll continue to investigate and be investigated, but I believe the operators on our team did everything they could have.”
Whitmire cut him off: “You wouldn’t have changed anything in terms of your play calling during those critical hours?”
“As I sit here now, I don’t think I would,” Magness said, adding he wouldn’t want to question the operators’ judgment and experience.
“If we listen to all the tapes, and we look at all the evidence and there were things they should have done differently, that should certainly be on me, because I’m ultimately responsible for the company,” said Magness, who spent hours testifying before senators. .
The simultaneous hearings come after millions of Texans experienced outages that were initially branded as “rolling” but lasted hours and days for many. Lawmakers asked pointed questions as they probed witnesses about the preparation for the winter storm and the response once it covered much of the state.
‘Blame out there for everyone’
In the wake of the power collapse, elected officials cast blame in a variety of places, with ERCOT shouldering much of the fault from state leaders. Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have made reforms to the nonprofit priorities for the legislative session.
But lawmakers may need to look no further than the state Capitol, said Fort Worth Republican Rep. Charlie Geren.
“Some of the blame belongs right here in this building on every floor,” Geren said. “There’s blame out there for everybody.”
ERCOT is a nonprofit overseen by the Public Utility Commission, whose commissioners are appointed by Abbott. It acts as the manager of Texas’ power grid. It doesn’t operate electric generators or have enforcement authority over them, Magness explained at a Wednesday board meeting.
The Public Utility Commission also bears responsibility, said State Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, noting he was awaiting the commission’s turn to testify.
“As we start talking about folks to blame here, I want to point out that we had a cataclysmic, near total loss of public order, and a panic on a statewide level, based on a strategic lack of preparation spanning multiple years, agencies, entities and people,” said Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Waxahachie.
Ellzey acknowledged that it’s been a tough year for everyone — a challenge that’s been compounded by the weather event — and called for a “proper chain of command” to communicate what preparations are needed.
“We didn’t think anything worse could happen after the last year, and weather said ‘hold my beer,’ “ Ellzey said.
State Rep. Todd Hunter, a Corpus Christi Republican well acquainted with natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey, asked a energy generation company point-blank: “Who’s at fault?” It’s a question he repeated throughout the day.
When it comes to winterization of power plants, Thad Hill, president and CEO of Calpine, the largest generator of electricity from natural gas and geothermal resources, took responsibility. Two of Calpine’s plants gave out because of failed winterization, he said.
He also pointed to a lack of coordination between between the gas industry, the Texas Railroad Commission and the Public Utility Commission.
A communication failure
Magness, when testifying before the Senate, said ERCOT is used to rotating outages but was hearing from transmission owners that the rolling outages may not be possible.
“I think at that point we were solving problems, but I think we should have been talking more to people,” Magness said.
Lacking communication was a reoccurring theme of the lawmakers’ questions. Some companies, such as Vistra Corp., were criticized for not better communicating with customers. Rep. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, came equipped with a timeline of the company’s new releases and social media posts.
“It’s one of the things I look back on and wish I would have done differently,” said Curt Morgan, chief executive officer of Vistra Corp., an Irving-based retail electricity and power generation company.
In the days leading up to the storm, Morgan said his company reached out to Abbott, oil and gas regulators and Sen. Kelly Hancock about needing to communicate with the public, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
“There wasn’t a broader communication to the public that we were running into a bigger situation,” he said.
Allen Nye, CEO of Oncor, described moving from a “normal outage rotation into a severe emergency situation.”
Nye said he “deeply regrets” not effectively letting people know that the outages would last much longer than 15 to 30 minutes.
“I completely understand the outrage and anger of all Texans, and it’s justified and appropriate,” Nye said. “I want to apologize for whatever role I or my company is determined to have played in that suffering.”
He continued: “I simply hope that in the weeks and months ahead, when you consider my testimony and the facts come out, that Oncor did everything we could for one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to prevent additional suffering that would have been caused if we didn’t do what we did to save the grid.”
Hunter of Corpus Christi encouraged those in the energy industry better disseminate information to the Texas Legislature.
“If we don’t have you communicating with us, how can we resolve?” Hunter said. “Send the message to your groups. Don’t leave these committees, the legislature out. We represent the public.”
WEATHERIZATION
Abbott has made the winterization of power generators an emergency item for the Legislature.
During the Senate hearing, Public Utility Commission Chair DeAnn Walker said lawmakers have not given the commission the power to require winter weatherization of power plants.
Owners of power generators are required to present an emergency plan that deals with winter weather. These reports are filed once a year on Jan. 15. ERCOT then reviews the plan and conducts spot checks, Walker said.
This year, ERCOT reported to the Public Utility Commission that all plants were following their weatherization plans. While these plans are in place, neither ERCOT nor the PUC has any power to enforce compliance with weatherization plans or enforce minimum weatherization standards.
Walker said she would welcome the power to enforce weatherization.
When questioned if weatherization would’ve helped more people have power during the outages, Magness said he didn’t know as that data is still being collected.
Sen. Royce West of Dallas questioned why Magness did not know how other states handle winter weatherization.
“Let me get this straight, you’re the executive director of the agency. You have all these people reporting to you. You know weatherization is a critical issue,” West said. “And you don’t know what other states are doing in terms of best practices?”
Both committees were still hearing from witnesses after 5 p.m.
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 12:42 PM.
