Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's tough talk for ERCOT avoids his own culpability, lack of action
Gov. Greg Abbott's slathering of blame for this week's electrical outages solely on the operator of Texas' power grid is both misdirected and coming a decade too late, say critics familiar with the state's utility systems.
During a Thursday afternoon news conference, the Republican governor unloaded on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) for its inability to handle the crippling winter storm that left millions without power, saying Texans "will get answers" why the grid couldn't keep up with demand.
Further, Abbott called on the Legislature to pass a law mandating that power generators winterize their generating plants.
“What happened is absolutely unacceptable and can never be replicated again,” he said.
But critics point out that this week's rolling blackouts were themselves a repeat of a 2011 incident in which freezing temperatures played havoc with the state's grid.
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In a telling moment during Thursday's presser, Abbott declined to answer a reporter's question about whether the PUC deserves the same scrutiny he's demanding of ERCOT.
https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2021/02/19/texas-gov-greg-abbotts-tough-talk-for-ercot-avoids-his-own-culpability-lack-of-action
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The Texas state government “recommended” it 10 years ago, but did nothing to insure that winterization was actually accomplished by the state’s private energy producers. Now Abbott is calling for winterization again. My hero!
What really sticks in my craw is that THIS TIME none other than Pleasure Cruz is pushing a plan to force Texas taxpayers to foot the bill for the necessary weatherization. “Socialize these losses,” says Pleasure Cruz. Keep the profits private. It’s the Texas way!
-Laelth
