The impact on retail electric consumers and taxpayers will likely not be known for years,...
A Texas appeals court ruled the PUC broke rules when allowing ERCOT to set higher wholesale electricity rate during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, which left millions without power.Emergency rules set by the Texas Public Utility Commission that increased
The decision, according to legal analysts, could be a multibillion-dollar victory for companies such as Luminant Energy, Pattern Energy, Exelon Generation, Constellation NewEnergy and Brazos Electric Coop, who had to buy electricity on the wholesale market during the storm and claim they were charged too much and should receive refunds. If the decision is upheld, the PUC may have to order electricity generation companies Calpine Corp.
Attorneys for the PUC argued in court that the companies suing the agency are simply upset at losing money during the freeze, which cost upward of $130 billion in overall damages, according to the state comptroller, and was responsible for about 200 deaths. They warned the judges against “second-guessing” decisions made by the PUC and ERCOT during the emergency. The PUC also argued that the court did not have jurisdiction to overrule the agency’s rulemaking.
“Instead, the orders had the maximum impact on competition conceivable by setting a single price for power and directing ERCOT to take all necessary steps to ensure the market cleared at that single price,” the court ruled. Allyson Ho, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing Luminant, said during oral arguments last April that the PUC simply “disregarded legal procedures.”
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