Winter storm bills still pending in Texas Legislature; regulators await action

摘要

Texas lawmakers had on May 7 more than 30 bills pending, designed to address the deadly mid-February winter storm that left about 4 million customers without electricity for various periods across four days, and state regulators are awaiting lawmakers’ decisions before advancing eight storm-related projects. Most of the bills pending in the Texas Legislature can be placed in eight categories: 1. Six bills provide some form of securitization – i.e., bond issuance – for the financial impact on electric or gas customers or suppliers. 2. Six bills require the establishment of emergency reserve power generation capacity. 3. Four focus on weatherization of electric and gas facilities, but one of the securitization bills also funds weatherization.