Tell Lawmakers to Make a Resilience Plan for Texas

Texas was unprepared for an extreme weather event, and as a result large parts of the state lost power and water. Friends, neighbors, and faith communities have stepped in to assist as they are able, and Texans have used their creativity to fashion makeshift solutions. Nevertheless, vulnerable people have died; the working poor have lost everything; and homeowners face a grueling process of rebuilding. 

Texans are suffering, and lawmakers are holding hearings. 

Here’s what to tell your legislators right now:

1. Be honest. Lawmakers had plenty of warning an event like this could happen and they have repeatedly rejected opportunities to prepare.
2. Be proactive. Stop asking whose fault the crisis was and looking for scapegoats; instead, start asking how we can prevent future systems failures.
3. Be practical. Get specific about what worked, what didn’t, and why. Then figure out how to partner with the federal government, the private sector, and local communities to make more of the good stuff.
4. Be just. Look for solutions that will help vulnerable communities thrive—not just opportunities for a few entities to make money fixing a disaster that should have been prevented.

Lawmakers need to hear about your experience during this crisis. 

Click here to share your story

None of this was unforeseen. After a cold snap in 2011, Comptroller Glenn Hegar — a state senator at the time — authored legislation to track and report how well prepared the state’s electric grid is for extreme weather. State Rep. Lyle Larson points out that shortly thereafter, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) made a series of regulatory decisions that might have prevented or mitigated this man-made disaster that other states are not suffering as severely during this nationwide storm. Finally, bills filed by Rep. Rafael Anchia and Mayor Eric Johnson of Dallas — then a state representative — would have made state agencies plan for extreme weather events, but these bills never made it out of committee

Next Thursday, February 25, the House State Affairs and Energy Resources Committees will hold a joint public hearing “to consider the factors that led to statewide electrical blackouts” and the response by the industry and grid operators. Governor Abbott has created three “emergency legislative items” related to the infrastructure crisis:

1. Reform of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
2. Texas Legislature mandate the winterization of Texas’ power system 
3. Funding for winterization

Making these “emergency items” means the Legislature could take quicker action than usual on these items—and especially amid COVID, this could drastically limit public input into issues that impact every community in the state.

Your legislator needs to hear from you—especially if they are on one of the committees holding hearings February 25. 

You should be prepared to tell your story in one minute or less: where you live, major impacts the disaster had on you, and your biggest challenges going forward. It is wise and totally normal to practice what you are going to say—you can write it down and read it if that is easiest. After you tell your story, please ask your legislator to do everything possible to ensure the February 25 hearings are honest, proactive, and practical:

HONEST

Don’t try to blame wind, bureaucrats, or God. Legislators knew this could happen. Two decades of policy decisions by the Legislature and the Public Utility Commision made the state’s power infrastructure vulnerable. They ignored opportunities to plan for climate resilience. And they tentatively allowed small amounts of renewable energy development instead of diversifying robustly. Should you encounter scapegoating of renewable power, insist they get a list from ERCOT and the PUC on which types of generators went down.

PROACTIVE

It’s too late to prevent this crisis, but it’s not too early to start preventing the next one. Texans expect forward-facing plans, not backward-facing blame games. The February 25 hearings should focus on opportunities for resilience tomorrow, not handwringing or finger pointing. Should you encounter deflection techniques, let them know that extreme weather was not unforeseeable to other state representatives from both parties, so it’s time to take responsibility and move on.

PRACTICAL

Arguing about science is useless. Ask lawmakers to focus on serious policy questions like whether regulations for electric generators to make preparation for extreme weather are adequate. Ask them to look at whether electric generation owned by private investors or municipal utilities performed better and why.

Testimony at the hearings will be invited only, but Texans may submit comments to the House’s new Public Comment portal. The Capitol’s public access protocols allow the public to attend the hearings in person. However, Texas Impact recommends watching it online.