Public Utility Commission (PUC), Texas, said to reduce $16 billion in power prices

After raised power prices during February, two power companies are forced into bankruptcy and others have warned of potential bankruptcies. While the higher-level officials called on the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas to immediately reduce about $16 billion in power prices, PUC Chairman Arthur D’Andrea told lawmakers at a hearing in Austin that repricing will have consequences for the state’s power, agriculture, and other markets. It can also trigger lawsuits that the commission would lose.

If the legislature attempts to change the pricing by passing a bill, it would face lawsuits and could lose.  “If I do it, I get sued and lose right away,” Arthur D’Andrea told a state committee.

Pricing of the final 32 hours of the five-day emergency amounted to $16 billion for power and about $1.5 billion for service fees. It needs to cut according to the grid rules recommended by the state independent market adviser.

The call for correction of the final 32 hours of power pricing has not only been raised by 28 of 32 state senators but also by the state’s governor and lieutenant governor. While the senators told D’Andrea in a letter that “These corrections are squarely within your authority, whether by your own action or an order to ERCOT”  D’Andrea simply said, “I disagree”.