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March 5, 2021 2:34 PM
Committee staff, a presidential appointment, other key appointments, and a retiring legend in the news business
I’m not even going to mention Speaker Dade Phelan said
this past weekend that the electricity grid policy response may require more
than one special session of the Legislature. Why bring that up on
a Friday and dampen the mood?
Marathon hearings,
resignations, firings, and emergency meetings have just scratched the surface of
the crisis. We’ll see where it all goes – not that anything
happened this week to change the subject from a brutal ice storm that left
millions across Texas without power or water.
But Gov. Greg Abbott’s
announcement about masks and business restrictions did change the mood a bit at
the Texas Capitol. Seems like suddenly more people are at least
trying to walk the halls, talk with folks, and visit offices if it’s allowed. Will the House and Senate
follow Abbott’s lead and lift restrictions in the building? Speaker Phelan hinted
at that, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has not been as interested in talking
about it.
Meantime, there are People
on the Move to tell you about. If I missed your career news announcement or you
would like the scoop to appear here, email anytime at ksbraddock@gmail.com and please use POTM
in the subject line.
Here’s the latest edition:
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March 5, 2021 2:32 PM
The news via
Austin American Statesman reporter Bob Sechler
Texas utility regulators
have rejected a recommendation that they reverse about $16 billion in
overcharges for wholesale electricity that were racked up during the massive
failure of the state's utility grid last month because of a pricing error by
the grid's operator.
“It's just nearly
impossible to unscramble this sort of egg," Arthur D'Andrea,
the new chair of the Public Utility Commission, said during a commission
meeting Friday. Potomac Economics, a Virginia-based firm that's paid by the state to provide an arm's-length
assessment of the Texas power grid, recommended Thursday in a letter to the
commission that the overcharges — which were billed to retail electric
providers, distributors and others — be reversed by retroactively lowering
wholesale electricity prices over a 32-hour period beginning Feb. 18.
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March 4, 2021 6:52 PM
Reactions from education groups: Unimpressed. TSTA asked “What if there is a spike in COVID-19 cases after spring break or because of Gov. Abbott’s decision to end the mask mandate and relax other safety standards?”
Education groups had mixed
reactions to Thursday’s announcement that the state has agreed to extend a
“hold harmless” funding provision to school district budgets – as long as those districts are able to maintain or increase
student attendance this school year.
The Texas Education
Agency has been reticent to comment on the brewing school district
funding debate for most of this pandemic-dominated school year. Answers from
agency staff have been broad; thus, somewhat difficult to interpret.
Today, state leaders made
it clear that school districts would maintain funding as long
as those school districts could maintain or increase current enrollment.
Comments from
teacher groups based on the “hold harmless” funding promise for this school year
do raise concerns.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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March 4, 2021 5:00 PM
Rules may be relaxed after Abbott’s announcement of reopening businesses; Phelan said “Those (rules) were adopted, and for those pandemic rules to change, we would have to have a vote on the House floor of all 149 members who vote on those.”
Here’s the KXAN
TV report.
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March 4, 2021 2:14 PM
The newsflash from
Bloomberg News:
A firm hired to monitor
Texas’ power markets says the region’s grid manager overpriced electricity for
almost two days during last month’s energy crisis, resulting in $16 billion in
overcharges.
Amid the deep winter
freeze that knocked nearly half of power generation offline, the Electric
Reliability Council of Texas, known as Ercot, set the
price of electricity at the $9,000-a-megawatt-hour maximum -- standard practice
during a grid emergency. But Ercot left that price in
place days longer than necessary, resulting in massive overcharges, according
to Potomac Economics, an independent market monitor hired by the
state of Texas to assess Ercot’s performance. In an
unusual move, the firm recommended in a letter to regulators that the pricing
be corrected and that $16 billion in charges be reversed as a result.
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March 4, 2021 1:11 PM
At least 150,000 claims were filed in the week following the storm, mostly homeowner claims; the industry says “To put that in perspective, when you go back and look at Harvey, there were 167,000 claims paid in that storm…So, in terms of claims, this may be as big as Hurricane Ike” in 2008
Early insurance industry
estimates are pegging the destruction from the Texas winter ice storm at
somewhere in the range of $9 billion to $10 billion.
The Texas House
Insurance Committee touched on those numbers as it talked to a number of stakeholders about last month’s catastrophic
storm. Albert Betts of the Insurance Council of Texas, the
industry’s trade group, said it was obvious – in the days leading up to the
storm – that this would an unparalleled weather event.
“The good thing for us --
as a state and as an industry and as a people – we are used to dealing with
disasters. We know how to recover,” said Betts, a Dallas native. “The insurance
industry has responded to a variety of storms in the state and stood ready to
respond to this storm.”
So, it’s
easy for Texans to talk about statewide storm damage – and storm claims – in
terms of past events such as Hurricane Ike or Hurricane
Harvey or Dallas hailstorms.
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By Kimberly Reeves
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March 3, 2021 8:51 PM
Vote was 6-1-2. Lori Cobos of Office of Public Utility Counsel abstained, says she had concerns with the termination terms. Magness is turning down $800,000 severance that he'd be entitled to because the firing is without cause.
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March 3, 2021 4:03 PM
But Hellerstedt assured lawmakers “the governor and I are on the same page. We share the idea that non-pharmaceutical interventions have not changed”
Governor Greg Abbott
did not talk to Department of State Health Services Commissioner
Dr. John Hellerstedt before yesterday’s announcement he was ending the
statewide mask mandate and allowing all businesses to operate at full capacity
yesterday, Hellerstedt told the Texas House Public Health Committee
today.
The answer came after
questioning by Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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March 3, 2021 3:49 PM
“We can have a third party that is trusted by the legislature and this agency to go and figure out where the money went and make sure that if any money is owed to ratepayers, it’s back in their pockets,” new PUC Chair D’Andrea said
The Public Utility
Commission cleared its agenda on Wednesday to take up a handful of
smaller items related to ERCOT’s actions during the February ice storm.
Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea recognized the service of former Chair DeAnn Walker as he opened the meeting,
calling her tireless in her work on the commission. Walker resigned this week
after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and many others called for her
resignation. He acknowledged the broad impact the recent ice storm had on
the state.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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March 3, 2021 1:51 PM
After the Biden Administration asked states to do this, DSHS said "all vaccine providers in Texas should immediately include these personnel in vaccination administration and outreach to ensure they are able to be immunized."
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Copyright March 03, 2021, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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March 2, 2021 6:33 PM
Abbott says businesses can open at 100%, but county judges can implement some restrictions in areas where hospitalizations for COVID are stubbornly high; behind the scenes, DSHS tells hospitals, local governments, and others to remain vigilant about the use of masks and social distancing
Editor’s note: This
story has been updated with various reactions and the full text of Abbott’s new
EO. We’ve also reported out some of what state health officials were saying in private
conference calls after Abbott made his announcement – SB
In a city not impacted by
the failure of Texas’ power grid a couple weeks ago, Gov. Greg Abbott on
Tuesday told Lubbock business leaders the statewide mask mandate is being lifted
and other COVID-19 related restrictions will be rescinded next week.
"Too many Texans have
been sidelined from employment opportunities" because of COVID
restrictions, Gov. Abbott said. “This must end,” he said, drawing applause from
Lubbock Chamber of Commerce members at an event at a Mexican
restaurant.
Gov. Abbott said businesses
of every type will now be able to open at 100 percent capacity starting next Wednesday.
Of course, business owners can still limit their own capacity if they choose
and can require masks in their establishments if they wish – not that that will
cause any confusion. One prime example: Grocer HEB almost immediately
announced the store chain would encourage, but not require, the use of masks by
customers.
To add to the confusion,
the Department of State Health Services in the afternoon was
still telling local governments, hospitals, clinics, and others to stay vigilant
by encouraging masks and social distancing.
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March 2, 2021 6:30 PM
"Representatives González and Walle will make valuable additions to the Legislative Budget Board. They bring to the table years of experience in the budget process and will serve Texas proudly," Phelan said. Ex officio members: Phelan, Greg Bonnen, Morgan Meyer.
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March 2, 2021 6:20 PM
Case is argued as debates about new elections rules in Texas are set to get underway this session
Views are mixed on whether
some Republicans have managed to make their case to the US Supreme Court
today as they push to potentially scuttle Section 2 of the Voting
Rights Act.
The cases heard today – Brnovich
v. Democratic National Committee and Arizona Republican Party v.
Democratic National Committee – are on track to directly impact the
controls individual states have to restrict, or limit,
voter access to the polls.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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March 1, 2021 5:18 PM
Vistra and NRG CEOs told lawmakers last week they would not pass the $9000 per MW electric price on to their customers; now we’re starting to see that smaller providers don't have that bandwidth
The financial fallout of
the 2021 winter storm has begun as the state’s largest generation and
transmission co-op, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, has filed
for bankruptcy protection from a $2.1 billion bill due to ERCOT.
Last week, FitchRatings placed Texas’ public power utilities and
electric cooperatives on Ratings Watch Negative, or RWN. Fitch raised
concerns that spikes in natural gas prices erased liquidity in the market,
with energy costs far outstripping cash reserves.
“These higher costs have triggered
Fitch's concerns regarding funding requirements and liquidity in the near term,
and cost recovery and the potential for increased financial leverage over the
medium term for its rated issuers,” according to the ratings action.
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By Kimberly Reeves
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March 1, 2021 3:24 PM
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March 1, 2021 11:59 AM
Lt. Gov. Dan
Patrick issued a lengthy statement. Here it is.
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February 26, 2021 1:42 PM
Back inside the building for a big job, policy wonks, local government, comms pros, media moves, and more
Are y’all okay?
I’ve
been trying to check in with as many of you as possible but here we are again
with a crisis that’s touched just about everyone. The fact that the ice storm
left so many in the dark, helpless for food and reliable water, was on full display
during 15 hours of hearings Thursday. If you’re bleary
eyed like I am – well, it really does feel like session now doesn’t it?
Given the nature of the storm, we hit pause on
People on the Move last week. For those who may not know the drill: You can get
your career moves in the news by sending the scoop anytime to ksbraddock@gmail.com. Career moves that
I just happen to notice are also often included, so for some control over what
is said here it is best to email me. Use POTM in the subject line for priority service.
You are appreciated.
Here’s
the latest edition of People on the Move:
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By Scott Braddock
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