Everyday Texans overlooked in state lawmakers’ response to power outages during winter storm – By Erin Douglas and Mitchell Ferman (Texas Tribune) / June 3 2021
While lawmakers took significant steps toward preventing another blackout, hardly any of the proposals passed during this legislative session will aid consumers in recovering from the February storm — but they’ll see higher utility bills.
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The first day, Melissa Hutchins and her husband burned furniture to keep warm. Friends of theirs burned their children’s toys. A neighbor’s roof caved in.
When the Hutchins lost water because the pipes froze, they went to a hotel.
Three nights and four maxed out credit cards later, they returned to their Arlington condominium when power was restored to Texans after one of the deadliest and costliest disasters in state history.
“Texas is not prepared for weather like that,” Hutchins said. “We’re not equipped for that at all down here.”
State lawmakers responded to February’s deadly power outages during a winter storm with a few key changes to the state’s power grid that experts said will begin to address some issues exposed by the storm — such as requiring power companies to upgrade plants to withstand more extreme weather and creating a statewide emergency alert system.
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