Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday that dealing with residents’ rising electricity bills is the “top priority” for the state legislature, and he said there would be a moratorium on disconnections from customers for non-payment. When energy fell amid terrible and icy temperatures, Texans who did not have a fixed electrical plan had their bills skyrocketed due to market costs, with some reporting their bills totaling tens of thousands.
Abbott and the Legislature held an emergency meeting on Saturday to find ways to “protect” residents from the bills they fire. “Texans who have suffered from freezing cold days without energy should not be subjected to skyrocketing energy bills due to a spike in the energy market,” Abbott said on Sunday.
About 30,000 Texans had no power on Sunday afternoon. Abbott said he expected power to be restored across the state on Sunday night.
In addition to the skyrocketing electricity bills crisis, Texas also faces two other immediate crises: food shortages and lack of access to drinking water. Abbott said on Sunday that he is suspending truck transport regulations so that drivers can deliver food to supermarkets quickly. He also suspended kitchen regulations to prepare food, as long as it complies with state health guidelines.
Abbott also said the state would distribute “Ready-to-Eat Meals”, or MREs, and requested a USDA disaster declaration to help distribute food.
The Texas Department of Environmental Quality said that boiling water warnings were suspended for about 5 million Texans on Sunday, including in Houston and most of San Antonio, two of the state’s largest cities. Two days ago, 14.9 million Texans were under boiling water warnings.
Abbott is also recruiting plumbers as residents try to deal with broken pipes. He urged anyone in trouble to call a plumber as soon as possible, as well as insurance companies.
In addition to the immediate triple crises, Abbott said that from now on, Texas will prepare all energy sources for winter.
“We should never run out of energy again,” said Abbott. “Texas is the state of energy, we need to make sure that we translate that into power generation to make sure the power stays on.”
On Saturday, President Biden issued a declaration of great disaster, making 77 of Texas’ 254 counties eligible for federal funding to aid recovery efforts.
Temperatures plummeted across the state last week, leading to an increase in energy use that caused the power grid to shut down. At least 30 deaths were attributed to the Texas storm, including a grandmother and three school children who died in a fire in a suburban Houston home.
Higher temperatures over the weekend caused snow to melt.