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Texas Governor Greg Abbott (right) comes under scrutiny over his handling of mass power outages in the state caused by harsh winter weather as he prepares to present for re-election next year following two major disasters.
State Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa accused Abbott of “playing politics with alternative energy sources” in a statement on Monday, saying that as residents of Lone Star state struggle , the governor “continues to relax and wait”.
Julián Castro, the former Democratic Mayor of San Antonio and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under former President Obama, tweeted that Abbott “failed to prepare for this storm, was too slow to respond and now blame everyone except himself for this mess.
Millions of Texas residents were left without power as the state experienced unusually cold weather, with a number of areas recording single-digit temperatures. And the forecast shows more cold on the way.
Almost all of the city of Galveston has been cut off since Monday morning, and neighboring Houston is also hit hard by blackouts. Social media has been filled with Texans describing struggles to get medical equipment to work, failed attempts to find available hotel rooms and the frustration of not knowing when the lights – and the heat – will come back on. Some areas also had limited water supplies or spotty cell phone coverage due to the power outages.
The emergency comes as Abbott prepares to run for his third term as governor. A University of Houston poll released earlier this month showed it with a 39% approval rating. President Biden
Joe BidenMcConnell doesn’t rule out getting involved in Republican primaries Lost files documents to explore Senate-led Hillicon Valley in 2022: Talk announces official relaunch | Google signs salary deal with major Australian media company China at heart of GOP effort to push back Biden MORE, which lost Texas in the 2020 election, had a higher approval rating of 41%.
Democrats have long worked to create a “blue wave” in Texas in hopes of toppling the traditionally Red state, but their efforts have failed. Still, Democrats in the state are reporting progress in recent years. President Biden lost the state to the former President Trump
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Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton Sullivan is Biden’s National Security Auditor Trump’s Lawyers Focus Defense Against Attacks on Democrats LIVE COVER: Trial ends for day as Senate moves to vote MOREThe 9-point loss to Trump in 2016. And former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) came within a few points of knocking down Sen. Ted cruz
Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz Juan Williams: Bring sanity back to the GOP The memo: Trump is tainted but hasn’t made China a central part of GOP efforts to push back Biden MORE (R) in 2018.
Hinojosa said Abbott’s handling of winter power outages, coupled with what critics say is Abbott’s botched response to the coronavirus, could put Democrats on their toes in 2022.
“We’re going to hang all of these things around his neck because people have to remember how horrible he was as governor,” Hinojosa said.
The Hill has contacted Abbott’s office for comment.
The governor is taking a series of measures to deal with the crisis, including the deployment of the state National Guard in an effort to help move vulnerable people, including the elderly, to warm shelters.
And he focused the blame on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on Tuesday, calling on state lawmakers to open an investigation into the council.
“The Texas Electrical Reliability Council has been anything but reliable for the past 48 hours,” Abbott said. “This is unacceptable. The review of ERCOT’s preparations and decisions is an urgent element so that we can get a full picture of what caused this problem and find long-term solutions.
This week’s blackouts may be related to deregulation, and Texas is unique in that it has an contained power grid in the state, cutting it off from helping other parts of the country in the event of a shortage or blackout. In addition, many power plants are not equipped to operate in such cold temperatures.
“Texas is pretty much an island of electric power, you can’t go get more of it when you need it, and it’s on purpose, so Texas sets the rules for how Texas operates,” said Robert Cullick. , former utility manager at Austin Energy. The hill Tuesday.
Cullick, speaking from his central Texas home which has been without power for two days, said Abbott’s promise to take a look at the electrical system was overdue.
“Who is responsible for making sure there is enough capacity to serve enough customers in the state?” As is ERCOT… but not in the same way it was before the 1990s, where utilities could be fined for not providing the electricity they said they were going to use, ”said Cullick.
“The state has had to review this on several occasions and has decided each time that it does not want to pay for every utility to have the capacity to serve,” he noted.
Residents of Texas have received mixed messages from ERCOT and other private companies.
Margaret Bentley, from Texas, told The Hill on Tuesday that she had just resumed power at her West Texas home in Alpine after being without her for two days, during which time her water heater burst. and the temperature dropped to around 40 degrees inside.
“Customers have been urged to reduce unnecessary electrical use as much as possible,” said Bentley. “The blackouts were meant to be ‘continual blackouts’ and I was prepared for an outage of about five hours, but I never expected that we would be without power for more than 48 hours and the temperature would stay fine. below zero most of the time.
“I have no idea how the elderly or people who are sick or on oxygen or struggling with COVID could have gotten away with it,” she added.
ERCOT’s senior system operations director said the board was optimistic the number of outages would be reduced throughout the day, while Texas energy group Oncor tweeted that ERCOT was “unable to predict when grid conditions will stabilize, ”and urged customers to prepare for extended outages. .
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (right) called on the House State Affairs and Energy Resources committees to meet for a joint hearing next week to examine the factors that led to the blackouts generalized electricity.
Other state politicians have also called for an investigation into ERCOT, including San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, whose home was without power on Tuesday.
Because of the state’s leadership on the issue, local leaders often have their hands tied on issues of power, such as the “power outages” that often plague the state during the sweltering summer months.
A spokesperson for the mayor of Dallas Eric JohnsonEric JohnsonDallas mayor proclaiming September 29, Botham Jean’s birthday, “ #BeLikeBo Day ” MORE (D) told The Hill that ERCOT had not provided the office with updates on the situation, and as Johnson worked to open neighborhood warming centers there was little he could do to restore the situation. current.
“We don’t have a municipal public service. … This is all out of our control. Some people have asked the mayor to turn on the power; we don’t have that capacity, ”the spokesperson said.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler (R) called for “systemic changes” in the wake of the crisis.
“So much cold and powerless, people in danger and everyone frustrated including me,” Adler said in a statement provided to The Hill. “ERCOT needs to explain how millions of Texans are without power. “Continuous” outages are not that. There must be systemic changes. It happens every ten years and there must be a better plan.
Despite the backlash against ERCOT, Democrats say Abbott is ultimately responsible for failing to act sooner to prepare the state for a major weather emergency.
“We have a public grid that has collapsed as a result of the state’s energy system, the power system has been deregulated over the years, and there hasn’t been enough money invested in it. the system to maintain and improve power plants, ”Hinojosa said.
Be p. Joaquin castro
Joaquin CastroKey GOP Senators wonder when Trump knew Capitol was violated Democrats blast Trump’s team videos: ‘False equivalence’ LIVE COVER: Trial ends for day as Senate comes to vote MORE (D-Texas) tweeted that Abbott “was the person who let things get so bad.”
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