Policy Director for Energy Alliance Bill Peacock is going after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this month for his decision to override the electricity market.
According to Bloomberg, the State of Texas has been going through the process of reviewing proposals for a taxable bond issue to raise $3.4 billion in funding to pay for the high costs of natural gas utilities during Winter Storm Uri which rocked the state and caused billions in damage last year.
Much of the cost was incurred when the Public Utility Commission, which was operating under the direction of Abbott, decided to override the electricity market and raise the wholesale price for electricity to $9,000 per kilowatt hour, which is extremely high in comparison to the typical price, which is no more than $50.
In criticism of Abbott, Peacock said, "The decision of the PUC could have been reversed. The Texas Senate, under Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, attempted to force the PUC to reverse the decision. But both Gov. Abbott and Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan opposed the reversal, leaving Texans to pay the billions through higher electricity and natural gas bills."
The bonds that were proposed are designed to spread the cost of the electricity during the winter over a number of years, but additional proposals are on the table.
The price hike that was imposed by the governor will cost Texans as much as $38 billion in charges in just one week. This amount was more than residents in the state paid for electricity over the previous two years combined, according to Forbes.
