AUSTIN, TX - Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) today announced a legislative package tackling the top-to-bottom failures of the electric supply chain during February’s winter storm outages.

The bills address weatherization, baseload reliability, ERCOT reform, energy storage, emergency communication, market structure and other aspects of the Texas electric industry and are designed as components of a large-scale, bicameral legislative effort to provide accountability and effective, deliberative solutions.

“Texans deserve a comprehensive legislative response that keeps our eye on the main goal: real reliability,” said Hancock. “We can’t afford to get this wrong. No Texan should have to endure dangerously frigid temperatures in their own homes ever again, period.”

Hancock serves as Chairman of the Senate Business & Commerce Committee that led the charge on investigative hearings into the causes of the outages and related financial fallout. In addition to filed legislation outlined below, he soon will introduce Senate priority legislation reforming ERCOT.

• SB 415 – Spurs growth in back-up battery storage for Texas grid participants
• SB 1278 – Promotes ancillary services back-up generation for intermittent resources
• SB 1279 – Bans high-risk retail plans that pass wholesale prices through to the consumer
• SB 1281 – Reorients economic impact tests for new transmission toward consumer cost-savings
• SB 1282 – Provides consumer savings through transmission and interconnection cost reassignment
• SB 1579 – Protects ratepayers by establishing a securitization pathway for the natural gas market
• SB 1580 – Protects ratepayers by establishing a securitization pathway for electric cooperatives
• SB 1682 / SJR 62– Proposes a constitutional amendment to create the State Utilities Reliability Fund for weatherization improvement projects
• SB 1749 – Requires critical gas infrastructure mapping and improves communication and coordination between natural gas and electric regulators
• SB 1750 – Establishes new severe weather preparedness standards and requirements for critical electric and natural gas infrastructure
• SB 1757 – Protects ratepayers by establishing a securitization pathway for ERCOT participants

To read the full text of each bill, visit capitol.texas.gov.

###