Texas House Calls Hearing On Electricity Blackouts

As early as next week there will be a hearing in the Texas House of Representatives to get to the bottom of why ERCOT was unable to meet electricity demands when Texans needed it most. As temperatures dropped to single digits last night, many Texans were without power. Most Texas residents rely on electricity to heat their homes. Using the same equipment that we cool our homes with all summer.

Texas State Representative District 57 Trent Ashby has released a statement that sums up how we all feel about the situation.

"I’m very pleased to see Speaker Phelan call on the Texas House to hold hearings next week to identify why the state power grid was unable to meet electricity demand - when Texans needed it most. We expect and demand better from ERCOT and our generators, and I look forward to hearing directly from them on what I know will be some very pointed questions. The current situation is unacceptable."

Speaker Dade Phelan has requested that the House State Affairs and Energy Resources Committees hold the joint hearing to review the factors that led to megawatts of electric generation being dropped off the ERCOT system and the subsequent statewide blackouts that affected millions of Texans across the state.

More than 2 million Texans have been left without power -  some for hours, some for days. The joint hearing will give all of us a chance to hear from all of the players involved. Grid operators, industry officials, and regulators will speak to what happened. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of this critical issue for all Texans.