Texas lawmakers ask state agency to delay power market redesign until after 2023 legislative session

From left: Peter Lake, chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and Brad Jones, then-interim president and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, speak at a May 17 press conference about the state power grid. (Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune)

In a letter last week and in a committee meeting Monday, Texas lawmakers from both the House and Senate have asked the Public Utility Commission, which regulates the state’s electricity market, to hold off on its planned electricity market redesign until the Legislature can evaluate it.

After the power grid crisis during the February 2021 winter storm that left millions of Texans in the dark during dayslong power outages and caused hundreds of deaths, the Texas Legislature ordered the PUC to make several major changes, including requiring power plants to better prepare for very cold conditions and implementing a “reliability standard” for the state’s electricity market.