In the one and a half years since the deadly winter power failures of 2021, Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly promised that everything is copacetic regarding Texas’ shaky power grid. He’s even gone so far as to micromanage how often the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s beleaguered independent grid operator, issues public updates on grid conditions. Behind the scenes, he’s also kept a tight grip on the regulatory machinations that have largely taken place behind the scenes with little transparency or public input.
Take, for instance, the installation of new leadership at ERCOT. In the wake of the storm, Abbott and other top Republicans tried mightily to pin the bulk of blame on then-CEO Bill Magness. Magness, along with the entire ERCOT board of directors, was run out of town. To fill the void, Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dade Phelan appointed a selection committee—composed of a trio of big donors and politically wired power players—tasked with hiring a new board.
That new board was in turn filled by several new members with deep ties to the state’s energy industry, including a new board chair named Paul Foster, an El Paso mogul who’s contributed nearly $2 million to Abbott’s campaign coffers.
