A Texas lawmaker collapsed while confronting officials from the state’s energy supplier, Ercot, for dozens of deaths during a power blackout and a winter storm last week.
The decision came when Ercot employees appeared before the Texas legislature on Thursday to answer questions as part of a hearing on the company’s role in the crisis.
That was when, as reported by MSNBC, a lawmaker burst into tears when confronting the Ercot authorities over the deaths, believed to be in the tens of thousands – including an 11-year-old boy, Cristian Pineda, who died of hypothermia.
His family was among the four million in Texas who went without power during the worst winter in decades, while tens of thousands spent almost a week without power, all of which were largely supplied to Texas by Ercot.
A lawmaker said during the hearing, before having to pause, “” Harris County alone confirmed 15 fatal cases of hypothermia, including the death of 11-year-old Cristian Pineda … ”
“Who died sleeping after playing in the snow and coming home without heating,” she said, bursting into tears. “We want them and all the Texans to make sure it never happens again.”
The tense first day of the hearing came when Ercot’s CEO Bill Magness told lawmakers he did not regret the company’s role in the crisis – despite admitting that the state was slow to lose all its supply.
“I feel a great sense of responsibility and remorse for the event, but I will continue to investigate – we continue to investigate – but I believe that the operators on our team did everything they could,” Magness told lawmakers.
A lawmaker then asked, “But wouldn’t you have changed anything in terms of your calling during those critical hours?”
Mr. Magness replied, “I don’t think I would.”
AccordingHouston Chronicle, about 52,277 megawatts were lost from the Texas power grid at the height of the crisis last week, causing blackouts. Ercot employees were then forced to alternate power interruptions to prevent the system from collapsing.
This comes exactly a decade after a 2011 winter storm forced 14,700 megawatts offline in Texas, with a federal report warning that the state needed to erode its power grid to prevent a future collapse in the cold weather.
The state, whose power grid is independent, has not done so.