Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has hinted that he’ll call a special session on election integrity while State Rep. Jasmine Crockett believes the state should focus on fixing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) instead.
“I’m calling on Gov. Abbott to limit this special session to fixing ERCOT and divvying up federal dollars,” Crockett said in a Twitter post.
A University of Texas study shows a connection between problems faced by ERCOT during the historic Dallas winter storm in February and the situation it is currently in, an article by KXAN reported.
“We can’t afford to waste more time on hyper-partisan, divisive issues that don’t meet the real needs of Texans. Nothing is more important. It’s life or death,” Crockett said.
The study, delved into by KXAN, stated that though the current weather conditions differ, they pose a similar problem for ERCOT.
On June 14, ERCOT urged Texans to conserve energy, an article by KVUE reported, as the grid began to show strain that is similar to that experienced earlier this year as the winter storm hit the area.
The winter storm created power demand as people tried to warm up while the recent Texas heat created a different kind of demand as people cranked up their air conditioners, KXAN detailed in an article.
KVUE states that manufacturers strongly opposed the call to energy conservation.
But things may soon calm down.
KXAN said in an article that ERCOT confirmed the power conservation notice expired as of 7 p.m. on June 18 and that there is enough power for current demand. This comes after a week of the grid running on high usage rates, the article states.
The University of Texas study said that while ERCOT is not connected to the national grid and therefore avoids any federal regulation, it could be in the state’s best interested to prepare for any kind of weather, the KXAN article said.
