@NathanForTexas asks for clarification on the $16b. Is that a real number?
It's an "economic number," but $5b is the real number, is what I think Bivins said.
To say that's unclear would probably be an understatement. #txlege.
The filing Bivins is referring to, the Independent Market Monitor's latest official position on the $3b vs. $5b vs. $16b is here: interchange.puc.texas.gov/Documents/5181…
Important point by Bivins here. Outside of the formal #demandresponse programs at ERCOT, there is price responsive demand (usually large commercial/industrial users). Supply is only 1/2 of the equation.
Sen Hughes says so that high price encourages them to stop using? #txlege
(cont) IMM Bivins says yes.
Note that we have only very small residential #demandresponse programs. We could decide to pay residential consumers to lower usage (usually using AI like smart thermostats) to avoid outages. We barely do this at all in #ERCOT
In @PUCTX proceedings, interested parties file comments. In Texas, #txlege set it up many years ago that anyone can file comments. In many states, you must have a lawyer. Not here #txenergy
To view the comments, go to this site and enter the control number shown in the agenda:
For example, for the filing by the Independent Market Monitor discussed so vigorously in both House and Senate yesterday, enter 51812 where it says control number
They'll hear from @PUCTX Chair D'Andrea and undoubtedly have lots of questions about the $16b in charges to customer facing retailers, munis, and co-ops Feb. 18-19 that have been the source of much contention lately. Great coverage by @James_Barragan here: dallasnews.com/news/politics/…
Check out this discussion with two #txlege leaders to hear what they're thinking about solutions for dealing with future extreme weather (aka #climatechange).
@evanasmith always asks good questions. Tune in now!
@GoldmanCraig, asked why the #TexasBlackout happened, said all sources of power had failures: coal piles froze, one of the two nuclear plants froze, wind turbines froze, gas pipelines froze, and solar panels had snow.
@Menendez4Texas agrees and says he heard testimony that even if we had more gas plants, it wouldn't have mattered because you couldn't get gas to the plants.
@cohan_ds called this an "energy system failure" not merely electric system. Important bc methane gas regulators must be part of the solution. #txlege#txenergy
2/ Alison Silverstein, former PUCT and FERC staffer and true expert on these issues (Commitees: call her!) said “This industry has been treating weather events as if they’re high-impact, low-frequency. In my view, extreme weather events are [now] high-impact, medium-frequency.”
3/ On #climatechange, I said: “We’ve got to embrace the science and get smarter about how we deal with climate change. It’s hard for people. It’s hard for me to say it, but it is going to get worse and people need to understand this.”
Hey #energytwitter, if you want to tune in to the Senate and House hearings on the #TexasBlackout, links are in next tweet. I'll tweet on it throughout the day on this thread.
Please tweet using #txlege and #txenergy, esp. if you have relevent info that could help going forward
1/ Tomorrow, the Texas House and Senate will hold hearings on the #TexasBlackout. One thing I'll be listening carefully for--and likely won't hear from many on the committees--is discussion of #climatechange.
3/ Why? As I said in the @HoustonChron “We never hear the words #climatechange spoken at ERCOT because of the politics. It’s a taboo subject. We’re using the past as a predictor of the future and we can’t do that...