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Texas Tribune

8 Jun, 10 tweets, 4 min read

1/ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed new laws Tuesday aimed at reforming the state's power grid.

The laws won’t provide relief to Texans for storm-related costs, including expensive power bills and paying to insulate homes. #TXlege

bit.ly/3pBjjAZ

2/ The Texas winter storm was one of the deadliest and costliest disasters in state history. Recently, BuzzFeed News estimated it killed over 700 people, four times the amount Texas has acknowledged. bit.ly/3v628Zq

3/ The new laws will create an emergency alert system, weatherize power plants that serve the main electricity grid, and change the size and makeup of the electric regulatory board. bit.ly/3pBjjAZ

4/ To bail out utility and electricity companies, lawmakers approved a bill that will likely increase most Texans’ electricity bills by at least a few dollars each month for possibly the next two decades. bit.ly/3pBjjAZ

5/ Some are concerned that the state’s solution will add yet another cost to already-struggling consumers. bit.ly/3pBjjAZ

6/ Aaron Gonzales, a graduate student at the University of Texas, dreams of buying his own home but is concerned about the increase. “It’s a straw that gets put on the camel’s back, and we have to ask ourselves, how many before it breaks?” he said. bit.ly/35f0cnj

7/ The new laws do require power generation companies to better prepare their facilities to withstand extreme weather. bit.ly/3pBjjAZ

8/ But the requirement for natural gas fuel facilities to weatherize will be limited. Only gas facilities deemed "critical" by regulators are required to make changes. Deadlines weren’t set for the process, and changes are not likely to be made until 2022. bit.ly/3pBjjAZ

9/ The new changes to ERCOT, the agency that oversees the state’s main power grid, means the board now has fewer members. bit.ly/3pBjjAZ

@_sophieupark

10/10 Read more about Tuesday's signing here. bit.ly/3pBjjAZ #TXlege

Photo by @_sophieupark.

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More from @TexasTribune

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

2 Jun

A thread for the loyal readers of our coronavirus tracker: We're making some changes to how we update the data while maintaining our commitment to bringing you clear and timely information about the pandemic.

Here's what you should know. bit.ly/321stvP

2/ Starting this week, we will update the tracker data for COVID-19 vaccinations, cases, hospitalizations and more every weekday morning, instead of in the afternoon.

We will also compile data from Saturdays and Sundays into Monday morning’s update.

3/ The changes will not affect the look of the page or any of the charts. bit.ly/321stvP

Read 4 tweets

Texas Tribune

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1 Jun

Thread: Two days after House Democrats blocked Texas' elections overhaul bill, Republicans are walking back a controversial provision affecting Sunday early voting hours that was criticized for the impact it could have on Black churchgoers. #TXlege bit.ly/2RTNW8H

2/ In the final version of Senate Bill 7, negotiated behind closed doors, the elections bill contained a key change that set a new window for early voting on Sundays, limiting it to 1 to 9 p.m. bit.ly/3pbeNch

3/ Democrats and voting rights advocates said GOP lawmakers were targeting get-out-the-vote efforts like "souls to the polls," the longtime practice by Black congregations that encourages members to go vote after Sunday morning services.

Read 8 tweets

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

31 May

1/ Overnight news: Texas House Democrats walked off the floor Sunday night, breaking quorum in a last-ditch attempt to block a sweeping voting restrictions bill. #TXlege bit.ly/3g1IsAN

2/ Midnight was the deadline for the Texas House to approve the legislation that would alter nearly the entire voting process, create new limitations to early voting hours, ratchet up voting-by-mail restrictions and curb local voting options. #TXlege bit.ly/3g1IsAN

3/ But on Sunday night, with an hour left for the Texas Legislature to give final approval to the bill, Democrats staged a walkout, preventing a vote on the legislation before a fatal deadline. #TXlege bit.ly/3g1IsAN

Read 6 tweets

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

28 May

1/ Justin Aguilar’s bingo halls lost thousands of dollars during February’s deadly winter storm. Then, the bingo halls got a $120k electricity bill.

Texas is discussing whether to include businesses like his in a massive winter storm bailout. #TXlege bit.ly/2TftkI4

2/ The bingo halls had an electricity plan that offers cheaper power when Texas' electricity supply is sufficient — but higher rates when it’s not.

Exorbitant power bills now loom over thousands of Texas businesses that are waiting for the state to help them seek low-cost loans.

3/ During the storm, electricity regulators set power prices at the maximum rate — $9,000 per megawatt-hour — for several days.

Because the freeze knocked out many of the state’s power generators, electricity companies had to buy what little power was available at that rate.

Read 11 tweets

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

27 May

@buzzfeednews

.@buzzfeednews' data analysis found that the catastrophic failure of Texas’s power grid in February killed hundreds more people than the state has acknowledged. bit.ly/3i1Gcfg

We reported in the wake of the storm that the state failed to deliver vital emergency information as millions of Texans fought to survive brutal winter weather without power and water. bit.ly/2Szvody

@NBCNews

The state enabled the worst carbon monoxide poisoning catastrophe in recent U.S. history, we reported with @NBCNews and @propublica. bit.ly/3usWCQk

Read 4 tweets

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

27 May

Texas mothers on Medicaid can currently keep their health coverage for just two months after giving birth.

They would keep it for half a year instead under a bill passed by the Senate Thursday. #TXlege bit.ly/3fM2Sh2

2/ Maternal health advocates said the bill — originally pitched as a one-year extension — could reduce the state’s maternal mortality rate and offer vital help to mothers with conditions like postpartum depression or health complications in the months after giving birth.

3/ The proposal stands to affect tens of thousands of women in Texas.

About half the babies in Texas are born to mothers on Medicaid — about 181,000 in 2018.

Black women die disproportionately while pregnant or after delivery, according to state reports.

Read 6 tweets

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