A Dallas-area legislator is responding to remarks made by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that the Freedom of Information doesn’t apply to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
“We have the right to know why we spent a week in the cold and dark — many without food or water. We shouldn’t have to keep speculating if we’re going to have power during the 110° #Texas summers. We need to know what happened to the #TexasPowerGrid won’t happen again,” said State Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Farmers Branch) in a Twitter post.
Earlier this month, ERCOT asked those in Texas to conserve energy as the state’s grid again buckled under excessive demand, this time during hot weather, as reported by the Dallas Express.
Johnson said that she sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott saying that she wants answers from ERCOT.
“My office is demanding that the #TXlege shine a light on @ERCOT_ISO. Today, my office sent a letter to @GregAbbott_TX to let him know that I intend to file legislation when we return for the special session to give Texans the transparency they deserve,” said Johnson in a Twitter post.
In her letter she wrote, “The freeze is over but sunlight is still desperately needed when it comes to the natural and man-made causes of our energy grid disaster. It’s dangerous and outrageous for the Attorney General’s office to decide we need less info and transparency going forward.”
In a Fox 7 Austin report, Paxton said that the Texas Public Information Act does not apply to ERCOT and that text messages, emails and recorded phone calls about the deadly storm will not be released.
Texas residents have been investing in buying generators for their homes because of uncertainty and fear about the energy grid, as detailed in an article by the Houston Daily.
