As Texas continued its slow recovery from last week’s Deep Freeze, power failures and water outages, it was revealed Tuesday that four members of the independent agency that runs the state’s electricity grid will resign tomorrow.
They include the chairwoman and vice chairman of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and two others, reported the Austin-based Texas Tribune.
ERCOT officials reported the four were “experiencing harassment,” apparently because none of them live in Texas.
“ERCOT board members had come under fire last week when it was reported that [the four board members] did not reside in the state,” the Tribune says. The other 11 board members are Texas residents.
“The board has also been criticized for its handling of last week’s mass power outage during a winter storm that has claimed the lives of dozens of Texans. More than 4.5 million customers were without power at one point last week,” the Tribune says.
The power outages were dealt with fairly quickly; the water shortages — caused by under-insulated pipes that froze and broke during the Arctic cold snap — remain a huge problem for thousands.
Plumbers are in huge demand around the state, particularly in the Houston area, where few homes are “winterized” like most in northern states. Many of those homes suffered serious damage from the burst water pipes.
The four ERCOT board members’ resignations will be effective at the end of a meeting on Wednesday.
“The vacancies will not immediately be filled,” the Tribune says.