Rep. Steve Allison, Rep. Diego Bernal, Rep. Lyle Larsen
| Gentlemen: | |||
I am addressing the three of you as a group for two reasons. First, though each of you represents a slightly different political philosophy, you are all men of principle and integrity, and you have served the people of San Antonio loyally and well. Second, having met you personally, I know that each of you acts with an independent, open mind for the best interests of our City – not because of partisan pressure from some Authority Figure. Given your common interest and shared background, I believe that the three of you can and will work together to solve a compelling problem. The matter at hand is of the highest importance to the people of Texas.
We have just experienced a very severe winter storm that paralyzed much of our City. We experienced widespread power blackouts, loss of water in some areas, and a host of problems. At the heart of these problems is the Texas power grid which frankly failed the people of San Antonio. I am sure you agree that this failure should not be repeated.
Our City-owned CPS Energy is merely a part of the Texas-wide power grid overseen by ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT bears responsibility for the disasters we suffered due in part to its unfounded assumptions regarding the lack of need to “winterize” power generating facilities. ERCOT’s lax policies, which victimized four million Texans, are partly due to policies set by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and ultimately by the state legislature in Austin. It is at the state legislature, where you play key roles, that changes in policy must be made.
I understand from reading the financial pages of the Express-News (and newspapers published outside Texas analyzing our disaster) that the heart of the matter lies in the desire of certain Texas business interests to obtain the absolute cheapest power that can be produced. As a consequence, ERCOT and several Utilities cannot commit even minimal funds for the steps necessary to “winterize” power sources, be they natural gas, wind, or other means. The rationale is that “Texas winters are always mild. We don’t need to spend good money to winterize because a bad winter will never happen and, in any case, winterizing will only raise the cost of each kilowatt hour of electricity generated.” ((Although this rationale works much of the time, it did not work in 2011, nor this year, nor in earlier crises.))
ERCOT’s lax policies are underscored by a stubborn, unwarranted “go it alone” desire in the matter of power generation despite the obvious examples of northern states such as Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas – subjected to far colder temperatures than Texas – yet which experienced no crises due to ample preparation for winter weather.
We read in the newspapers about a flurry of lawsuits filed against ERCOT, to include possible “wrongful death” lawsuits in consequence of people who died, either freezing to death or because vital equipment such as dialysis machines failed during power outages. Some businesses suffered losses due to disruption of production lines. Firms in the food business lost millions of dollars’ worth of food when power to their refrigerators failed. Power failures also damaged critical stocks of vaccines and other medicines. Even printing, publishing, and electronic communications were negatively impacted. This morning’s paper had news about a Houston Utility filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Attorneys could plausibly argue their cases against ERCOT along “willful negligence” lines. After all, these disasters werepreventable.
It may be that some of your adversaries on the House Floor may object and say “Well, that freeze was a fluke. It will never happen again. Therefore, there’s no need to waste money on winterizing. And we will not adhere to any federal power safety and security standards because they only just cost us more money.” This pseudo-reasoning will only set us up for a repeat of the disaster we just experienced.
You should remind these naysayers that the cost to Texas goes beyond the billions of dollars of damage inflicted due to lack of foresight, indifference, and callous neglect. What business from another state or foreign country would wish to set up a plant or conduct operations in a state whose power supplies are demonstrably unreliable?
Pointing fingers or assigning blame for the disaster is merely a waste of time. What is required is to fix a system that clearly is broken. The three of you, working together with like-minded colleagues from other parts of Texas, have it within your power to do this. The legislature can secure our grid in two ways — by joining our grid to the other 49 states, and by adopting federal guidelines for the safe and secure operation of its energy producers, especially as regards fully “winterizing” our power generating facilities.
With every good and warm wish,
G. L. LAMBORN
Colonel, USAR (Ret.)
Former President
North Central Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association (NCTONA)
Council District 9