Special Session on Texas Power Crash Could
Be Inevitable as House Unveils Plan of Attack

Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside
March 8, 2021

The prospects for a special session on the Texas energy crisis appeared to grow on Monday when state House Speaker Dade Phelan rolled out a sweeping package of legislation that would refurbish the state's antiquated electric infrastructure at a price that's unfathomable now.

With the regular session nearing the halfway point without a single committee hearing before today on bills besides the state appropriations plan, a special gathering would buy critical time for the Republicans who control the Legislature to fashion a consensus plan in response to an unforeseen crisis that the killer freeze dropped in their laps last month.

House leaders appear to be leaning toward a special session amid concerns that a fast-track approach would create the appearance of window dressing for a monstrous problem that's a product of lax regulation, penny pinching and neglect during two decades of Republican rule in Austin.

But Governor Greg Abbott is the only person in Texas with the authority to summon lawmakers back to the state Capitol for a special session on electricity that would dilute his powers to some degree if the game plan that Phelan and his lieutenants have rallied behind became law in its current form.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has designated Electric Reliability Council of Texas reform and stability to be his second highest priority for the regular session on a list that's crowned by the state budget. Patrick tentatively plans to have the Texas Senate tackle an electricity system overhaul in a pair of bills that have yet to be filed.

Phelan identified seven pieces of energy infrastructure including three bills that legislation that have been or will be submitted for consideration in the regular session that will end on the final day of May less than three months from now.

The first-term Republican speaker had GOP State Rep. Chris Paddie of Marshall spearheading the push as the author of three bills in the House package in his role as the Energy Resources Committee Chairman. Phelan tapped Republican State Rep. Craig Goldman of Fort Worth and a trio of Democrats in State Reps. Richard Raymond of Laredo, Ana Hernandez of Houston and Joe Deshotel of Beaumont to take the lead role on one bill apiece in the House's multidimensional game plan.

The House plan would force Governor Greg Abbott to share the more exclusive powers that he has now in the oversight of ERCOT - a private enterprise that's supposed to be regulated by the Public Utility Commission that he appointed. The ERCOT board that's dominated now by energy company representatives would be revamped in House Bill 10 by Paddie with members that would be appointed by the governor, the lieutenant governor and the speaker with a special slot for a consumer watchdog.

The Texas Railroad Commission that's led by three statewide elected officials - would have a more defined part in the coordination of disasters in a separate Paddie bill with a seat on new council that would include the PUC, the Texas Department of Emergency Management and ERCOT. The RRC has the responsibility of regulating the natural gas industry that's in a state of financial turmoil and disarray in the midst of a crisis that was a financial boon for some energy companies while driving others out of business.

But the biggest fights at the statehouse could come over measures that Paddie and Goldman are sponsoring in attempts to have the state force electricity transmission firms, generators and natural gas pipeline owners to weatherize equipment to withstand severe conditions like the Arctic blast that the state and its independent grid were incapable of handling.

The House package features a Raymond bill that would establish a statewide disaster warning system similar to Amber alerts at the TDEM that the governor oversees in the executive branch. Hernandez and Deshotel will be sponsoring bills that are designed to protect ratepayers and homeowners.