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'The whole world is watching' | Texas Sunset Advisory Commission reviews the State's electricity regulator

The KVUE Defenders listened in as the Sunset Advisory Commission heard testimony about how to improve the Public Utility Commission.

AUSTIN, Texas — More than 660 days have passed since the February 2021 deadly winter storm. Millions of people lost power and hundreds died. The impact continues.

The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission heard testimony this week about ways to improve the Public Utility Commission of Texas. The PUC regulates power in the state. 

The discussions will become part of the next Texas legislative session.

“We have a huge responsibility and need more resources to adequately implement the directives y’all have given us,” PUC Chairman Peter Lake said to the commission.

Lake said the agency needs more employees and higher wages.

Fewer than 200 people work at the PUC. The agency had more than that 20 years ago, when they only regulated electricity. Today, the PUC also regulates water rights. 

“We've had employees working weekends, overtime, missed birthdays, missed vacations to make the progress we have made so far,” Lake said.

Sunset documents show the PUC had a 40% annual turnover rate in the Legal Division since 2020. In its report, Sunset staff recommended adding funding to a data analytics team.

“The exceptional item request for additional engineering expertise could fund analysis related to transmission planning, as well as project support for PUC staff reviewing requests to grant certificates of conveniences and necessity for new utility infrastructure,” the filed response showed.

“Our staff now can't sustain the pace,” Lake said.

“We were surprised to see PUC only has about 200 staff to not only regulate three industries, but implement significant changes to improve the grid while also navigating its new governance structure and relationship with ERCOT [Electric Reliability Council of Texas],” Emily Johnson, project manager of the Sunset Advisory Commission’s PUC review, said.

The lack of manpower impacts reliability. 

“We observed numerous challenges directly associated with PUC's relatively small staff, including a lack of expertise and inability to proactively think about improvements to key functions,” Johnson said.

The power grid came within minutes of a catastrophic blackout in the 2021 storm. Every source of energy failed at some point. Power plants, wind turbines and natural gas wellheads froze. Then, rolling blackouts cut the natural gas supply even more, crippling the system.

The purpose of the hearing is to review the agency. The Sunset Advisory Commission also asked about securing enough power during emergencies.

“Today, in a perfect world, it would be four to six years and a perfect supply chain before you added one megawatt of power,” said Texas Sen. Charles Perry. 

“Yes, sir, and in four to six years, we're going to have a capacity deficit,” Lake responded. 

“We can talk about capacity until the cows come home. But until private industry builds more plants, regardless of EPA or federal regulations or whatever, that's not going to occur,” Texas State Rep. Keith Bell said.

What was not mentioned by the state leaders and regulators was how to reduce energy demand through energy efficiency programs and policies.

The commission will now decide what to propose to the Legislature and what to recommend to the agency.

“The entire world is counting on us to get it right and the whole world is watching,” Texas State Sen. Nathan Johnson said.

The Sunset Advisory Commission wants public input on how the PUC can improve. The public may call, submit an email, fill out an online form or send a letter:

Sunset Advisory Commission
Attn: PUC
P.O. Box 13066
Austin, Texas 78711

Call 512-463-1300 to speak to Emily Johnson, project manager of the PUC review. Comments will be accepted through Monday, Dec. 12.

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