As I write this a month early to get it in this publication, already our new year has started off with frigid temperatures reminding us of last year’s historic arctic event. My crystal ball is a little cloudy, so it just leaves one guessing how we prepare for what we don’t know; this applies to so many decisions we all deal with in our day-to-day roles.
I’d like to encourage you to have an in-depth discussion amongst yourselves and with your local energy providers regarding the current state of the deregulated electric market. With increasing population and growth of residential homes and massive industry, it only puts more strain on a tired and already stressed power grid. What is the solution to securing and encouraging immediate investments back into our state’s electric generation and distribution infrastructure as we handle today’s growth and the most certain future growth? The current profits alone will not be allocated where they need to be without regulation. At the very least we need to have a parallel voice with our electric co-ops to get this message to the Texas Legislature.
Twenty years ago, a decision was made to deregulate the market; for the most part, this decision proved to be effective, at least for the short term. But that leadership has retired, and current leadership is caught in the middle without the knowledge or expertise of what was shared during that time. Finger pointing between natural gas, water utility districts, electric utilities, and the major players is hopefully being resolved. Looking back, retail energy providers, of course, wanted freedom to capitalize on profits which led to deregulation, and it was great until February 2021. Heads on chopping blocks and volatility now are more relevant because of liability and even deaths due to the inability to produce and perform at present-day capacity in a catastrophic event. ERCOT and the PUC are scratching their heads when the solution may be that more investors from a regulated market will build new and more efficient, resilient power plants.
We all recognize, even on our very own Commissioners Courts, that the decisions that we make are soon after forgotten or put on a back burner. It was a necessary decision for that particular time. Same with deregulation.
We as county leaders cannot simply rely on the legislature to do their job without having our input. Please share factual data gathered from your counties along with information gathered through your electric co-ops to help define a good resolution that the Association can present during the next meeting of the Texas Legislature. This needs to be a priority on all of our minds. Simply put, electricity is absolutely essential in keeping all things in our lives running, including water. And we can’t live without water.
God’s grace to us all.