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> The people who oversee and maintain the grid operate independent of government and wouldn't let any partisan elected official touch grid infrastructure with a
by Armisael16 6y ago
> The people who oversee and maintain the grid operate independent of government and wouldn't let any partisan elected official touch grid infrastructure with a 10' stick.
ERCOT is overseen by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which could have the power to mandate that power producers winterize if elected officials passed appropriate legislation (nothing particularly unusual from a legal perspective would be required).
Elected officials absolutely can be blamed for not taking steps to prevent this.
Blaming natural gas for this as a general energy source is as wrong as blaming wind - both are vulnerable but can be protected - but the idea that the state government had nothing to do with it is silly.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- wombatmobile 6y agoLt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Monday called for the resignations of Public Utility Commission Chair DeAnn Walker and Electric Reliability Council of Texas CEO Bill Magness, criticizing them for a lack of preparation ahead of the deadly winter storm that led to massive power outages across the state for multiple days. “Both the PUC Chair and the ERCOT CEO said they were prepared the day before the storm hit in full force, but obviously they were not,” Patrick said in a statement. His statements come after the officials testified for hours late last week in committee hearings as state lawmakers grilled them over the power grid failures. www.texastribune.org/2021/03/01/dan-patrick-texas-ercot-resign/amp/
- no-s 6y ago>>“Both the PUC Chair and the ERCOT CEO said they were prepared the day before the storm hit in full force, but obviously they were not,” Patrick said in a statement. The Lt Gov Patrick seems to have a valid point, if true...