AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF)- The Texas Senate passed a bill to authorize the reversal of $16 billion in overcharges after the winter storm.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says the bill requires the Public Utility Commission of Texas to order a “correction of prices”.
“The governor called on us to do it, we’ve done it,” said Patrick.
Governor Greg Abbott made this an emergency item for Texas lawmakers this session.
The bill’s author, State Senator Bryan Hughes said The Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the PUC did not correctly adjust energy prices after the storm, which resulted in the overcharges.
Officials say ERCOT implemented a $9,000-per-megawatt-hour cap during the first day of the power outages on Feb. 15 but left the cap as is after the worst of the power crisis had passed and was no longer needed.
“That week was bad enough,” said Hughes. “We can’t allow this happen and allow the cascading bankruptcies and the billions of dollars to be passed on to rate payers and added to their bills for years to come,” he said.
Hughes said Senate Bill 2142 can relieve some of that pressure by correcting a mistake that was never supposed to be part of the plan.
He said this was a complicated situation but that cannot keep them from doing the right thing.
