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The Guardian
Republicans Consider Federal Funds To Help Pay Texans Exorbitant Energy Bills
State’s energy grid failed in deep freeze Spread reports of companies seeking to cash in on Texas freeze show how rich are using climate change to divide us Democratic senator calls for federal inquiries into possible increase natural gas prices after storms left Texas and other states freezing. Photograph: Brett Coomer / AP Texas Republicans will use federal funds to help pay the sky-high energy bills hitting ordinary Texans after a deep freeze crippled the state this week, a senior congressman said on Sunday . Millions of people were subjected to power outages as cold weather overwhelmed an unprepared state grid, regardless of federal oversight. The blackouts have contributed to dozens of deaths and a crisis in access to safe drinking water that continued as temperatures rose. Joe Biden declared a major disaster on Saturday, releasing funds to help. White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Sunday told ABC this week that the president was “eager to go to Texas and show his support,” but that he would be careful not to disrupt them. relief. Reports have proliferated that some Texans whose power has remained are now facing huge bills as private companies seek to capitalize. The New York Times reported a case in which a 63-year-old military veteran living on Social Security in suburban Dallas was facing an electricity bill of nearly $ 17,000, 70 times what he would usually pay for everyone combined utilities. “There’s nothing I can do about it,” Scott Willoughby told the newspaper, “but it broke me.” Texas Republican Michael McCaul, former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, addressed CNN’s State of the Union. “The current plans with the Federal Assistance Bill are to help homeowners repair it because we have a lot of water leaks, a lot of water damage, pipes bursting, but also [pay] their electricity bills too, ”he said. Host Dana Bash challenged him saying, “I hear you say the federal government is going to help bail out and pay the bills in a state that is in part in this mess because it wants to be separated from the federal government.” . government. It’s rather rich, don’t you think? McCaul dodged the question, saying that instead, Texas needs to prepare for more extreme weather events. The deep freeze, he said, was “just a glimpse of what to expect if the United States does not tackle the climate crisis head-on.” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told CBS’s Face the Nation, “The bill should go to the state of Texas. When [people are] getting those sky-high electricity bills and they have to pay their house, fix their house, they shouldn’t have to take responsibility for it. Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said the state and federal government should help. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called an emergency meeting of state lawmakers to discuss the issue, saying in a statement they have a responsibility to ensure Texans “don’t get stuck with energy bills. which are soaring ”. On Sunday, he announced measures to protect energy consumers. The disaster declaration issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency applied to 77 of Texas’ 254 counties, leading Abbott to say it should cover the entire state. Psaki said, “What is happening here is that the governor has asked for a federal declaration of disaster. The president asked his team to speed this up. And Fema has determined where … they should focus the immediate resources, where the hardest hit counties are so they can make sure they’re reaching the people who need them most. “It means not only helping people get through this emergency, but also helping people get through the recovery, the people who have no water, who have no heat, who need a place to stay. stick around for a while, that’s what this declaration of major disaster will help resolve, or that’s our hope. McCaul was asked about the widely ridiculed claim by former Texas Governor and US Energy Secretary Rick Perry that “Texans would be without power for more than three days to keep the federal government from working. “. McCaul said, “Electricity sharing would have been helpful if we could have shared with other power grids.” That couldn’t happen, he said, because the Texas network “was set up… to be independent of federal oversight and regulations. That’s great with things like cybersecurity, not so great when it comes to an arctic blast like this. “In 2011, the state legislature, after we had a really bad freeze, released a bipartisan report with recommendations to energy companies on how to winterize our operations. These recommendations were not followed. “So when this happened, our entire energy system was not winterized for subzero temperatures,” McCaul said. “That’s what we’re going to look at, these recommendations that were made in 2011.” McCaul was also asked about efforts by prominent Democrats, including Beto O’Rourke and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the first from El Paso but the second from New York, to help ordinary Texans. Such actions contrasted with the behavior of Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, who flew to Mexico with his family rather than stay in his Houston home, a decision for which he was pilloried. “I think we also need to help,” McCaul said, “and we will with the federal declaration of emergency we received from the president. But I think it’s great that they are crossing party lines to help Americans first and not just Republicans or Democrats. “… I know some people get hot. Like, when a crisis hits my condition, I’m there. I’m not going on vacation. I know Mr. Cruz calls this a mistake and he admitted it. But I think it was a big mistake. Cruz must recover from his own political objective. In a tweet on Sunday, he said taking advantage of the freeze was a mistake. “No power company should get a windfall because of a natural disaster,” he said, “and Texans shouldn’t be hit with ridiculous rate hikes for the energy debacle of the last week. National and local authorities must act quickly to prevent this injustice. “
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