ERCOT Won’t Spill the Beans About Texas’ Winter Disaster

According to an article published Tuesday morning by the Texas Observer, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is not interested in turning over records that could lead to answers as to why Texas experienced one of the worst winter disasters in history.

Attorney General Ken Paxton's office received a letter from ERCOT last week arguing that they basically aren't subject to Texas' open record laws because they are not a public agency.

A loophole such as this makes it extremely easy not to have to own up to wrongdoing that could have directly affected millions of people. Just because they are not a public agency does not mean the public won't be seeking answers.

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The public is asking loudly what could have been done to prevent Texans from freezing to death in their homes, seeing sky-high electric bills and watching their pipes burst -- some with less patience than others.

Governor Greg Abbott called ERCOT out back on February 16th in an interview with WFAA, saying what happened was "completely unacceptable" and that "ERCOT has not been transparent about this." Weeks later, we're all looking for answers to the questions that we still have.

Who is responsible, if not ERCOT, for the massive power outage that cost our state millions of dollars and dozens of people their lives?

The letter from ERCOT is asking that Paxton allow them off the hook without providing evidence of guilt, whether it exists or it doesn't. Something sounds fishy about that to me.

Adrian Shelley, director of the consumer rights group Public Citizen, was quoted by The Texas Observer, posing the thought on all of our minds: "These kinds of crazy structures are just not in the public interest, and if ERCOT is in part to blame for the recent disasters, then one would think that additional public oversight is in the public interest."