She called on ERCOT management to provide a chronology of key events and critical actions as well as data and explanations in response to the following questions, she wrote. AUSTIN - After the 2021 Texas winter storm that knocked out power to millions of Texans for several days, state lawmakers made changes to the oversight of the state electricity grid. Further, many legislators were frustrated by the lack of accountability on the board, especially regarding the members of the board that would be unaffiliated members.. SONGS: Singer, songwriter makes new song inspired by FOX 26 news report about goats at Target, Man charged in shooting death of Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso ordered held without bond, Mother who drowned her 2 children, hid bodies under a neighbor's home given 40-year prison sentence, CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Robbery suspects ambush victim at Houston apartment building gate, victim shot, Watch: Fishermen spot sharks in huge feeding frenzy off Louisiana coast, Mother arrested after 4-year-old found outside alone, 1-year-old found laying in soiled linen, GOIN' CRUSIN'? [20] The 1999 deregulation was aimed at counteracting a shortage of generation capacity in the state. This is the cost of not planning ahead. While Magness was . Bulger lives inWheaton, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and Hepper lives in Maine. ERCOT is a company that: . hitType: 'event', Experts, but not people affected by the failure. A sixth has withdrawn his application to the board. Over 4.3 million people are now out of power in Texas. The Texas House has already approved House Bill 10, which would remove independent outside voices on the ERCOT board and replace them with five political appointees. }); [42], The first lawsuits against ERCOT grid mismanagement were filed on February 19, 2021. . There are multiple parking options available for those looking to attend the Houston Rodeo. Thanks to the board for their support and ERCOT staff for the terrific orientation. The Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber has announced the addition of three (3) new directors to its governing board and the re-election of two sitting board members. Its getting buried in a snowstorm which for Texas is just crazy! The Form 990 (2018) lists 16 board members; 15 of whom have voting rights; 12 (75%) of whom are male while 4 (25%) are female. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. The company also announced that Bobby J. Griffin, a director since 2006, plans to retire from the board when his current term ends at the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.. Irvin's term runs through the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. also stepped down from her role leading the governor-appointed agency that oversees ERCOT as she faced mounting pressure . Pablo Vegas, a utility executive in Ohio, named ERCOT's new CEO. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotOnload', function(event) { At a time when newsroom resources and revenue across the country are declining, The Texas Tribune remains committed to sustaining our mission: creating a more engaged and informed Texas with every story we cover, every event we convene and every newsletter we send. The ERCOT board of directors elected her as the chair on February 9, 2021, an ERCOT press release said. Politicians previously have not had such direct involvement in the ERCOT board, whose members are currently selected in a variety of ways. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('impressionViewable', function(event) { State officials criticized ERCOT amid the blackouts and state lawmakers scheduled legislative hearings for Thursday and Friday to discuss the outages. Ms. Talberg holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental and Natural Resources Policy Studies from Michigan State University and a masters degree in Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin. Board of Directors, Chair of Capstone Green Energy, and member of the Charah Inc. Board of Directors. ERCOT is overseen by the PUC. The board chairwoman and vice . }); Raymond Hopper is another non-native member who lives in Auburn, Maine. That the tornado shelter or fraidy-hole as they call it on my folks farm. On May 4, 1976, Central Southwest Holdings attempted to force the issue, with an event that was later called the "Midnight Connection", where it connected the grid to Oklahoma for a few hours. Another resident blamed inefficient planning as the reason for the present crisis. To allow state leaders a free hand with future direction and to eliminate distractions, we are resigning from the board.". [34][35], Approximately 4 million customers in Texas were without electricity for various times during the multi-day storm. Aplin, of Lake . According to an ERCOT report, the major sources of generating capacity in Texas are natural gas (51%), wind (24.8%), coal (13.4%), nuclear (4.9%), solar (3.8%), and hydroelectric or biomass-fired units (1.9%). The idea behind a BOD is to have a body that safeguards shareholders' interests as they are the firm's owner. We appreciate it! These people would be political types without electricity expertise, he told The Texas Tribune. The ERCOT Board Selection Committee members are Arch "Beaver" Aplin, G. Brint Ryan, and Bill Jones. We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature, and we thank the outgoing Board Members for their service," reads a statement from ERCOT. There are a total of 16 members on ERCOT's board, which appoints officers who manage the grid manager's day-to-day operations. Do you value our journalism? When Texans were in desperate need of electricity, ERCOT failed to do its job and Texans were left shivering in their homes without power," Abbott said in a statement. Hepper, a former litigator for the U.S. Department of Justice, retired in 2018 from working for the grid operator that manages the six-state New England electric system and wholesale markets. TIS members adopted official operating guides for their interconnected power system and established two monitoring centers within the control centers of two utilities, one in North Texas and one in South Texas. Hydroelectric Conventional: 23,086 MWh; The lack of preparedness and transparency at ERCOT is unacceptable. The board of directors, installed by a group of three people who are appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker, and a contracted search firm have presented CEO candidates to . ERCOT and its regulator, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, failed to adopt a mandatory standard for preparing electricity infrastructure for such occurrences (winterization), despite recommendations from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Leach called it completely ridiculous and unacceptable that she lives in Texas. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations (including the . Would love your thoughts, please comment. While ERCOTs operators have managed to avoid a total collapse of the grid, the significant and sustained loss of electricity generation and unprecedented demand have led to millions of Texas households and businesses without power for days during extreme cold temperatures, she wrote. hitType: 'event', According to the Council's . The slate of offices includes Councilmembers to represent At-Large, District 1, District 3, and District 5. The ERCOT board of directors elected her as the chair on February 9, 2021, an ERCOT press release said. A board of directors is a group of officials who the shareholders of a firm elect. If the wind turbines are unreliable in these temps then we shouldnt rely on them. pg.acq.push(function() { 'An electrical island': Texas has dodged federal regulation for years by having its own power grid, "Our hearts go out to all Texans who have had to go without electricity, heat, and water during frigid temperatures and continue to face the tragic consequences of this emergency," the letter reads. More than 3 million Texans are still without power Wednesday, February 17, days after a winter storm blasted the region, bringing with it record-cold temperatures. Neches Valley Authority Board of Directors, Lower ; Nueces River Authority Board of Directors . }); Texans, in turn, are blasting public officials including Former Colorado City Mayor Tim Boyd, and ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Powered by. Lexi Chuchill and Kiah Collier contributed to this report. Some power grid experts have said in legislative testimony, at industry events and in interviews that they dont see how giving more power to the political class and making minor tweaks like requiring all board members reside in Texas could improve the grid operator. The ERCOT region's all-time record peak hour occurred on July 20, 2022, when consumer demand hit 79,828 MW. On Tuesday, he shared ERCOTs tweet. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), This is the cost of not planning ahead," they wrote. }) MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of Some are chosen by ERCOTs own nominating committee. All donations are legal, and it is also legal for state officials to appoint campaign donors. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), RELATED: Death toll rises to 210 from February winter storm in Texas. }); The ERCOT grid operator manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers representing about 90% of the state's electric load, according to its website. 2 would modify ERCOT's 16-member BoD to . Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. 2023 FOX Television Stations, Woman still waiting on repairs a year after the Texas Winter Storm, ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING: Man shot in apparent accidental shooting in Houston, police investigating, CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Houston homeowner speaks out after being victim of terrifying attempted carjacking, Tom Sizemore, 'Saving Private Ryan' Actor, Dies at 61 after suffering brain aneurysm, G.O.A.T. Other Gas: 972 MWh; Caitlin Smith, an energy adviser in Austin and an ERCOT expert, raised concerns about political appointees who arent subject matter experts having access to critical information. eventAction: 'click_ads' Doesnt that undermine the notion of independence of ERCOT?, State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, acknowledged that having political appointees has pluses and minuses., Sometimes having a political appointee has the added advantage of understanding the political process, Schwertner said. . let gads_event; Leach said he has begun drafting legislation to prohibit non-Texans from serving on the ERCOT Board. She also previously served as an advisor to commissioners at the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. However, the Texas grid is not subject to regulation under the Federal Power Act, being an intrastate grid for the purposes of that law. ga('ads.send', { eventAction: 'load' [59][60][61][62] On February 23, ERCOT announced the resignation of five out-of-state board members effective the end of the board meeting the following day. #ERCOT is a world-class grid operator that embraces innovation and competition, she wrote on Twitter Feb. 9. Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, said he will file legislation requiring the officers and directors of ERCOT to live in Texas, referencing Talberg living in Michigan. The PUC has primary jurisdiction over activities conducted by ERCOT. }); We are one of the worlds fastest growing April 8, 2019 | Austin, Texas | Appointment Governor Greg Abbott has appointed J. Pat Hickman, Vicki Hollub, Woody Hunt, Jim Lentz, Drayton McLane, Jr., Abid Neemuchwala, Scott Prochazka, and Bryan Sheffield to the Texas Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors for terms to expire at the pleasure of the Governor. [16], Bill Magness, CEO of ERCOT, was fired on March 4, 2021, for his role in the 2021 power loss incident. [52], The ERCOT organization is governed by a board of directors made up of independent members, consumers and representatives from each of ERCOT's electric market segments. An earlier version of this story reported four ERCOT members who hold unaffiliated director positions are resigning. Anesetti-Parra lives in Toronto. The story was updated to reflect a fifth member of the board, Vanessa Anesetti-Parra, who is not an unaffiliated director, is also resigning. the chair lives in Michigan and the vice chair is an economics prof in Cologne Germany. A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organization, or a government agency.. He is a retiree from ISO New England which operates the electrical system in six states. As people across Texas face the potential of further waterline breaks and power failures with ice starting to thaw, sites set up for distribution of bottled water are seeing extremely long lines. Five board members, including the chair, who do not live in Texas will resign. In a Feb. 9 meeting, ERCOT CEO Bill Magness spent less than a minute discussing impending winter weather & whether Texas' power grid could handle it. Perhaps it goes without saying but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. State laws obligate public corporations to keep a BOD. Regardless of the type of mission or nonprofit status, all types of organizations require clear direction and oversight. Another user agreed with Abbott's decision terming ERCOT's unreliable actions as 'unacceptable'. Winter storm blackouts plagued Texas in 2011, too. Sally Talberg, board chair; Peter Cramton, vice chair; Terry Bulger, finance and audit chair; and Raymond Hepper, human resources and governance committee chair, occupy the "unaffiliated" director positions on the board, which mean they must remain independent of any business ERCOT oversees. pic.twitter.com/jG0yPQPtz1. A month ago, operators at ERCOT offered apositive assessment about the preparedness of Texas power plants for winter storms, according to the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network. Recognizing the reliability advantages of remaining interconnected, TIS members continued to operate and develop the interconnected grid. More than 4.5 million customers were without power at one point last week. All three resigned after the storm. Texas boy, 3, accidentally shoots himself dead on his birthday using gun that fell from family members pocket, Texas teacher who asked Trump to deport illegal students from Mexico at her school fired over racially insensitive tweet. [27] At first, rotating outages lasting from 10 to 40 minutes were imposed on millions of customers, but those outages lasted many hours for some and over 48 hours for others, while millions more were spared from any hardship. $260,219,816. On Monday, Schwertner argued in favor of HB 10 and asked for his colleagues support. A candidate for another position on the board has withdrawn his application. I cannot imagine how this change could improve resilience to winter storms, Cramton said. reporters on a platform technologically tailored to meet the needs of the modern reader. [63][64][65], It has a headquarters in Austin and an additional complex in Taylor. Pavon's family sued Entergy Texas and ERCOT for gross negligence. Three current members of the ERCOT board, including two appointed by Governor Greg Abbott, have contributed thousands to Abbott's campaign. The annual Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is no fun and games if you don't have a ticket. CEO Bill Mangess said in a press conference that cntact information for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' board of directors will be restored to the council's website next week . [28] On February 16, electricity shortages caused the price of electricity to spike to over $9,000 per megawatt-hour (MWh),[27][29][30] whereas the week before, the lowest price of power had been less than $30 a MWh. [56] This revelation drew considerable anger from the public as well as elected representatives, and the board members' names and photographs were temporarily removed from the ERCOT website due to death threats. In a joint resignation letter, Talberg, Cramton, Bulger and Hepper acknowledged "the pain and suffering of Texans during this past week" and cited objections to their residency as a motivating factor for their resignations. A massive blackout in Texas shined a spotlight on a policy: ERCOT officers and directors are not required to live in Texas, and Chairwoman Sally Talberg lives in Michigan. However, he added that an indefinite blackout, in place of smaller power outages could leave Texas without power for an indefinite amount of time, possibly a month even. Other: 1,160 MWh. [38], On February 16, Governor Greg Abbott declared that ERCOT reform would be an emergency priority for the state legislature, and there would be an investigation of the power outage to determine long-term solutions. The governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the Texas House each appoint one person to the three-member committee, who select ERCOT board members. Most recently, he was the president of Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc., a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc. Anesetti-Parra oversees Just Energys North American residential and commercial regulatory affairs and compliance division and has two decades of experience in the retail energy sector. The governor would appoint . As the agency announced that the power outages would continue till the end of the week, residents did not find it acceptable to live in the dark inside freezing homes for such a long time, especially during a snowstorm situation. [5] ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) in the United States. The board members were not all immediately available for comment or referred reporters to their resignation letters. ERCOT officials, during a press conference last week, said it had temporarily removed personal information about the directors from its website because they were experiencing harassment. }); ERCOT Board Appoints New CEO. eventAction: 'render' A massive blackout in Texas shined a spotlight on a little-known policy: ERCOT officers and directors are not required to live in Texas, and Chairwoman Sally Talberg lives in Michigan.