Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is under intense scrutiny over his handling of massive state power outages caused by harsh winter weather as he prepares for re-election next year. after two major disasters.
State Democratic Party President Gilberto Hinojosa accused Abbott of “playing politics with alternative energy sources” in a statement Monday, saying that while Lone Star State residents are fighting, the governor “continues to relax.” -se and waiting “.
Julian Castro, a former Democratic mayor of San Antonio and secretary of Housing and Urban Development under former President Obama, tweeted that Abbott “was not prepared for this storm, he was too slow to respond and now blames everyone except him even of this mess ”.
Millions of Texas residents were left without electricity as the state experienced an unusually cold climate, with several areas recording single-digit temperatures. And forecasts show more cold weather along the way.
Virtually the entire city of Galveston has been cut off from power since early Monday morning, and the nearby city of Houston is also being hit hard by the outages. Social media has been filled with jeans depicting struggles to keep the medical team running, failed attempts to find available hotel rooms, and frustration at not knowing when the lights and heat will turn on again. Some areas have also had a limited water supply or irregular coverage of mobile phones due to 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 him 39% approval. President Biden
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Democrats have long worked to create a “blue wave” in Texas in hopes of turning the traditionally red state upside down, but their efforts have fallen short. Still, state Democrats point to progress in recent years. President Biden lost status to the former President Trump
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Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz Juan Williams: Make sense of the GOP Note: Trump is polluted but does not become a central element of China in the GOP’s efforts to push Biden MORE (R) in 2018.
Hinojosa said Abbott’s handling of the winter weather power outages, along with what critics say, is that Abbott’s failed coronavirus response could put Democrats to the limit by 2022.
“We’re going to hang all these things around his neck because he has to remind people that he’s been horrible as a governor,” Hinojosa said.
The Hill has contacted Abbott’s office for comment.
The governor is taking a number of steps to address 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 Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT) on Tuesday, asking state lawmakers to initiate an investigation into the council.
“The Texas Electric Reliability Council has been anything but reliable over the last 48 hours,” Abbott said. “It simply came to our notice then. Reviewing ERCOT’s preparations and decisions is an emergency issue so that we can get a complete picture of what caused this problem and find long-term solutions. ”
This week’s disruptions may be related to deregulation, in addition to Texas being unique in having a power grid in the state, which closes in on aid from other parts of the country when there is power shortage or interruption. In addition, many power plants are not equipped to operate in such cold temperatures.
“Texas is pretty much an island of electricity, you can’t get more when you need it, and that’s on purpose, so Texas sets the rules for how Texas works,” said Robert Cullick, a former utility executive. ‘Austin Energy. Tuesday on the hill.
Cullick, speaking from his home in central Texas that has been without electricity for the past two days, said Abbott’s promise to take a look at the power system was belated.
“Who is responsible for ensuring that there is enough capacity to serve enough customers in the state? In the same way, it is ERCOT … but not in the same way as before the 1990s, where companies could be fined utilities not to go through with electricity they said they were going to get, ”Cullick said.
“The state has had a couple of times to review it and decided every time it didn’t want to pay for every utility to have the capacity to serve,” he noted.
Texas residents have received mixed messages from ERCOT and other private companies.
Margaret Bentley, a native of Texas, told The Hill on Tuesday that she had just regained power at her West Texas home in Alpine after two days without it, during which her heater exploded. water and the temperature dropped to about 40 degrees inside.
“Customers were asked to minimize any unnecessary electrical use,” Bentley said. “The outages had to be‘ rotating shutdowns ’and I was ready for an outage of maybe about five hours, but I never anticipated that we would be out of power for over 48 hours and the temperature would be well below the temperature of freezing for most of this time ”.
“I have no idea how the elderly or people who were sick, with oxygen or with COVID problems could have come out,” he added.
ERCOT’s senior director of operations said the board was optimistic that the number of sizes would be reduced throughout the day, while Texas energy group Oncor tweeted that ERCOT was “unable to predict when will stabilize network conditions ”and urged customers to prepare for prolonged outages. .
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) called on the State House Affairs and Energy Resources committees to meet for a joint hearing next week to examine the factors that go into it. lead to extensive power outages.
Other state politicians have also called for an investigation into ERCOT, including San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, whose own home was powerless on Tuesday.
As a result of state leadership on the issue, local leaders often have their hands tied on power-related issues, such as “continued disruptions” that often affect the state during the stifling summer months.
A spokesman for the mayor of Dallas Eric JohnsonEric Johnson: Dallas Mayor proclaims September 29, Botham Jean’s birthday, “#BeLikeBo Day” MORE (D) told The Hill that ERCOT has not provided the office with updates on the situation, and while Johnson was working to open neighborhood heating centers, there was little he could do to restore energy.
“We do not have a municipal utility. … All this is out of our hands. Some people have asked the mayor to turn on power again; we don’t have that capability, ”the spokesman said.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D) called for “systemic changes” as a result of the crisis.
“So many cold and no electricity, people in danger and everyone frustrated to include me,” Adler said in a statement to The Hill. “ERCOT must explain how millions of jeans are powerless. “Rotary” interrupts are not that. There must be systemic changes. That happens every ten years and there needs to be a better plan. “
Despite the backlash against ERCOT, Democrats say Abbott is responsible for failing to act earlier to prepare the state for a major weather emergency.
“We have a state network that collapsed as a result of the fact that the energy system in the state, the electricity system has been deregulated over the years and not enough money has been invested in the system to maintain it and improve it. power plants, ”Hinojosa said.
And receive it. Joaquin Castro
Joaquin CastroKey’s senators ask when Trump learned the Capitol was breached Democrats exploited Trump’s team videos: “False equivalence” LIVE COVERAGE: Trial ends day as Senate goes to vote MORE (D-Texas) tweeted that Abbott “is the person who let it go so badly.”