O'Rourke's Plan to Fix the Texas Electric Grid

Screenshot from Twitter

As Texas gets through one of the hottest summers in years, Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke has a plan to fix the electric grid issues for good. Texas Governor Greg Abbott promised to fix the issue and talk to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), but there are still problems that persist as shown this summer across the state.

O’Rourke said in a tweet:

“The governor of the 9th largest economy on earth — the energy capital of the world — can’t guarantee the power will stay on tomorrow. We need change.”

ERCOT issued the “conservation appeal” this past Monday and said no major outages were expected. Yet, they told customers to reduce electricity use from 2-8 p.m. local time. ERCOT claimed, a “record high electric demand” because of the heatwave. In addition, they said there was low wind to power turbines which was driving the need for customers.

Screenshot from Twitter

On Monday, O’Rourke wrote on Twitter:

“We can’t rely on the grid when it’s hot. We can’t rely on the grid when it’s cold. We can’t rely on Greg Abbott. It’s time to vote him out and fix the grid.”

“We now know that the Texas government’s repeated failure to modernize our energy systems killed over 700 Texans in February’s winter storm.”

Then fellow Democrat Julián Castro of San Antonio added:

“Texas life these days. Thanks @GregAbbott_TX.”

Screenshot from Twitter

Governor Abbott and ERCOT have not responded to The Hill about O’Rourke’s tweets and comments.

O’Rourke’s plan to fix the grid

“I just want to tell you that as governor, we're going to do it. We're going to connect [the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT] to the national grid."

The candidate for Texas Governor said this in a roundtable discussion with YouTube creator and activist Eugene Yang. This discussion was part of a fundraiser that Yang plans to release on September 7 on his YouTube channel.

O’Rourke mentioned the travesty when residents were left freezing in their homes during Winter Storm Uri in 2021. During the storm, hundreds of Texans were killed because they didn’t have any heat.

He added that energy companies have made $11 billion in profit by operating the electric grid.

“One of those CEOs literally cut Greg Abbott a $1 million campaign contribution check as if to say, 'Thank you very much.'"

The challenger added he would hire an independent market monitor to Texas oil tycoons who manipulate gas prices and are profiting at the expense of Texas citizens.

"We want to make sure we help the ratepayer, that's all of you and your neighbors or friends that have seen some of the sharpest increases in electric utility rates because of this grid failure. That wealth transfer is one of the greatest drivers of inflation in Texas. So let's get that $11 billion back and return it to the citizens and ratepayers, and ensure that it's more affordable to live in San Antonio and Texas."

You can see what billionaires are backing Abbott here.

Do you think O’Rourke could fix the power issue in Texas?