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Author Archives: admin
EPA rule draws fire during legislative hearing
A controversial new federal clean air rule would result in Texas job losses, reduce grid reliability and threaten the state’s most vulnerable residents, according to industry and government representatives who testified Tuesday before a key legislative panel. The officials — including those representing the Public Utility Commission, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality — … Continue reading
Electricity market is complicated: Who’s really looking out for who?
What are the different ways cities and their citizens get their electricity? Does anyone oversee the complex deregulated electricity market? How are electric service areas defined? In a recent Q&A published by Texas Town & City, Texas Municipal League General Counsel Scott Houston attempted to answer these questions, and a lot more, surrounding the complicated Texas electricity market and the … Continue reading
Dallas Morning News: ERCOT Lacks Accountability
The pervasive lack of accountability at ERCOT, the organization that manages the Texas power grid, has drawn the attention of one of the state’s leading newspapers. In an April 7 editorial, The Dallas Morning News endorsed two important bills that would help reform ERCOT (known formally as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) and refine the overall electricity market. HB … Continue reading
New report shows Texas’ largest cities continue to have some of the highest utility costs in the country
According to Whitefenceindex.com, consumers in Houston and Dallas are paying higher electric bills than residents in many of the nation’s top cities. The WhiteFence Index compares monthly utility costs for 20 major U.S. cities. Their comparison tool shows that during February 2011 residents of Houston were paying the 2nd highest electricity prices among the cities that were analyzed. Dallas, the … Continue reading
TXU, Reliant oppose legislation to help customers
Retail electric providers want powertochoose.com out of bills Think your retail electric providers are fighting for you at the Texas Capitol? Think again. In testimony this month before a key legislative committee, representatives for the state’s largest retail electric providers expressed support for removing information from home bills intended to help residential customers. Under current law, REPs are required to print … Continue reading
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Sunset Advisory Commission staff report: reform needed for ERCOT, PUC
Spending by the operator of the Texas power grid should be more closely monitored, and companies that improperly manipulate the wholesale market should face the prospect of greater penalties. Those are just two of the recommendations found inside a report issued last week by the staff of the Sunset Advisory Commission. The report examines operations of the Texas Public Utility Commission … Continue reading
CAPP chairman Doegey challenges electric industry to support reform
In a new ideas piece, Cities Aggregation Power Project chairman Jay Doegey challenges industry groups to get on board with reforms that protect ratepayers and enhance electric competition. CAPP calls for closing regulatory loopholes that expose the market to Enron-style manipulation. CAPP also believes the Texas Public Utility Commission should be granted more authority to police the market — including … Continue reading
One-Way Ratemaking Harms Consumers
What if our taxes went up every time a single state agency reported increased expenditures? Texas Department of Transportation needs more money? Hike taxes! The state expands a few prisons? Hike taxes! Of course Texans wouldn’t stand for such a knee-jerk budgetary response. We rightfully expect our policymakers to scrub the entire state budget before reaching deeper into our pockets. … Continue reading
Texans Endure Second Highest Electric Rate Increases in continental United States
Feel like you’re paying too much for electricity? If you live in Texas, you’re probably correct. Just consider the above chart, which is taken from easy-to-find data posted at the United States Energy Information Administration website. It shows that within the continental United States, only residents of Massachusetts have suffered greater rate hikes. Specifically, the chart compares electric prices in … Continue reading