How reliable is public power in Texas? How stable is the price?
Since Winter Storm Uri cost the state billions of dollars in February 2021, many people have increasingly grown concerned with the reliability and cost of electricity in the Lone Star State. It was a major weather event that had significant political and economic ramifications.
“Winter Storm Uri, the severe weather event of February 2021, will long be etched into many Texans’ minds,” according to an October 2021 report from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. “What might have been a rare opportunity for residents to experience significant snow accumulation turned catastrophic as power blackouts spanned most of the state from Feb. 15-18.
Mike Hoke
| LinkedIn
"A survey conducted by the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs in mid-March found that more than two out of three, or 69%, of Texans lost power at some point during Feb. 14-20, and almost half, or about 49%, had disruptions in water service," the report said. "The storm contributed to at least 210 deaths, and sources cited by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimated the state’s storm-related financial losses would range from $80 billion to $130 billion.”
Coupled with blackouts and calls to reduce power use during sweltering summer days, ready access to power and the price of it, has become a major issue for Lone Star State residents. Their politicians and public employees are all too aware of that.
According to recent polling from The Texas Politics Project (TPP) at the University of Texas, nearly 90% of voters consider the state's electric grid an “important” issue in the 2022 election. This percentage was consistent no matter their political affiliation, religion, race, education, or living location.
Furthermore, the TPP poll shows that voters are nearly evenly split on who will be able to effectively handle this issue as governor. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican seeking a second term, is only leading his opponent, former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, by 1% on this question, the poll states.
Additionally, a Data for Progress poll reported that 69% of those surveyed (Democrats 66%, independents 74%, Republicans 69%) said their electricity bill is higher this year and 52% (Democrats 60%, independents 42%, Republicans 52%) said it has impacted them “a great deal.”
Mike Hoke, director of the Public Utility Commission’s newly created Office of Public Engagement and spokesman for PUC Commissioner Peter Lake, said the message has been received.
“We can’t speak to any polls," Hoke told the Austin Journal. "What we can speak to is that we’ve heard loud and clear from Texans and our state’s leadership that our priority must be grid reliability at a reasonable cost to Texans.”
Texas voters consider the viability of the electrical grid to be one of the most important issues in the election, so much so that it has made the top four concerns. It comes in second place, just behind immigration and is just above gun violence and the economy.
State and federal subsidy programs have been widely utilized by renewable energy developers. What impact has that had on the Texas electric grid?
Hoke said there have been many positive outcomes because of those support programs.
“The PUCT does not collect or maintain specific information on the issue, but there are many external studies and analysis that demonstrate federal renewable energy subsidies have driven large investments in renewable power in Texas,” he said.
On July 6, 2021, Abbot released a plan containing four points to help the grid.
“The objective of these directives is to ensure that all Texans have access to reliable, safe, and affordable power, and that this task is achieved in the quickest possible way,” his letter to the Public Utilities Commission of Texas stated. “Through clear communication, transparency and implementation of these critical changes, the PUC and ERCOT can regain the public’s trust, restore ERCOT’s status as a leader in innovation and reliability, and ensure Texans have the reliable electric power they expect and deserve.”
One point was to “allocate reliability costs to generation resources that cannot guarantee their own availability, such as wind or solar power.”
Hoke said ERCOT and the PUC are focused on making sure when Texans flip a switch, there is power. It’s a complex problem with no easy or fast solutions, but they are aware of the concerns.
“We are working to build reliability into the Texas energy market,” he said. “The goal is to ensure that competitive market forces both drive investment in reliable power generation that is available when Texans need the power most and keep electricity rates low.”