Texas PUC Chair Resigns as Outage Probe Continues
The post Texas PUC Chair Resigns as Outage Probe Continues appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas has resigned, stepping down after the state’s lieutenant governor earlier on March 1 called for her resignation, along with that of the CEO of the state’s power grid operator.
DeAnn Walker, the PUC chair, in her resignation letter Monday to Gov. Greg Abbott, defended her actions and leveled criticisms at others as state lawmakers and energy officials continued to spar over who is to blame for widespread power outages in mid-February that left millions of electricity customers in the dark for days, many without both heat and water.
The PUC regulates the state’s electric, telecommunications, and water and sewer utilities. Walker, whose commission is appointed by Abbott, testified before state lawmakers last week, along with Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) CEO Bill Magness, as the legislature held hearings to address why the state’s power grid could not cope with cold temperatures that brought several days of power outages.…
