The CEO of the organization that controls the Texas power grid told lawmakers that he would not have done anything different during the last winter storm that left millions in the state without power for days.
Bill Magness, the CEO and chairman of the Texas Energy Reliability Council, or ERCOT, made the comments on Thursday at a hearing before the Texas State Senate Business and Commerce Committee.
“It is our job to keep the network balanced and, if I’m looking at it, the problem was at the locations of several generations,” Magness told committee chairman John Whitmire, pointing to natural gas supply issues.
“I would just say that I feel a great responsibility and remorse about the event,” said Magness, “but I believe that the operators on our team did everything they could.”
Interrupting Magness, Whitmire asked, “But wouldn’t you have changed anything in terms of your calling during those critical hours?”
“While I’m sitting here now, I don’t believe I would, I wouldn’t put myself in front of them and question their judgment and their experience,” said Magness.
The CEO said it would be “on my own” if the records showed negligence.
On Wednesday, according to NBC DFW, Magness told Texas lawmakers that if regulators had waited another five minutes to implement continuous blackouts, a months-long power outage could have occurred.
