Misplaced Pages

#383616

72-583: In 2007 there was a proposal to construct a jail facility with a bond worth $ 245 million, but voters rejected it. In 2021 prisoners reported problems with the plumbing system and lack of heat during the 2021 Texas power crisis . In 2022 the jails had higher assault rates compared to other large jails in the state. By then the rate of prisoner deaths also increased. Lucio Vasquez of Houston Public Media stated that Texas Senate Bill 6, which ended many forms of cashless bail , may be contributing to overcrowding and deaths. As of October 2022, over 10,000 inmates are in

144-569: A 23-year-old woman had a miscarriage after a detention officer and other prisoners had allegedly assaulted her while in the Harris County Jail. Between 2019 and 2024, more than 90 people have died while in the jail's custody. On February 15, 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened a federal civil rights investigation into the jail after dozens of inmate deaths in the past few years: 21 in 2021, 28 in 2022, and 4 in

216-607: A contract with the Texas Reliability Entity in November 2020, reducing oversight of the grid. In July, Abbott's commissioners disbanded its Oversight and Enforcement Division, dropping pending cases that ensure reliability. While not a direct cause, the Commission's minimal oversight of utility companies, limited budget, and voluntary standards restricted its ability to secure consistent performance. There

288-599: A major power crisis , which came about during three severe winter storms sweeping across the United States on February 10–11 , 13–17 , and 15–20 . The storms triggered the worst energy infrastructure failure in Texas state history, leading to shortages of water, food, and heat. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power, some for several days. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly, with some estimates as high as 702 killed as

360-531: A record 69,692 megawatts (MW) on February 14 — 3,200 MW higher than the previous record set in January 2018 and 12,329 MW higher than its current capacity. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) initiated rotating outages at 1:25am on February 15. However, a retrospective Houston Chronicle article a year later said peak demand was even higher: 76,819 megawatts on Feb. 16, 2021. The rotating outages prevented electricity demand from overwhelming

432-481: A reserve margin of power capacity beyond what is expected. A 2019 North American Electric Reliability Corporation report found that ERCOT had a low anticipated reserve margin of generation capacity and was the only part of the country without sufficient resources available to meet projected peak summer electricity demand. Gov. Abbott's appointees to the Public Utility Commission of Texas ended

504-492: A result of the crisis. State officials, including Republican governor Greg Abbott , initially blamed the outages on frozen wind turbines and solar panels . Data showed that failure to winterize power sources, principally natural gas infrastructure but also to a lesser extent wind turbines, had caused the grid failure, with a drop in power production from natural gas more than five times greater than that from wind turbines. Texas's power grid has long been separate from

576-459: A similar event occurring in the future, but these recommendations were ignored due to the cost of winterizing the systems. At the time the blackouts and failures in the power grid were likened to those that occurred in December 1989 , after which similar recommendations were made to the state government and ERCOT, which were similarly ignored. On August 16, 2011, a 357-page report was released by

648-430: A substance abuse program. The 1200 Jail includes a large medical clinic, a dental facility, an infirmary, mental health facilities, a pharmacy, an x-ray facility. The 701 Jail (located at 701 North San Jacinto Street) is one of the largest detention facilities in the United States. The seven floor 701 Jail has 4,144 inmate beds. The 701 Jail, originally a five-story building to be used as a cold storage warehouse, opened in

720-581: A wind turbine said to be in Texas were actually taken in 2015 in Sweden. However, wind energy accounts for only 23% of Texas power output. Moreover, equipment for other energy sources such as natural gas power generating facilities either freezing up or having mechanical failures were also responsible. Governor Abbott later acknowledged that coal, natural gas, and nuclear plants had played a role. Five times more natural gas than wind power had been lost. When power

792-400: Is an emergency priority for the state legislature , and there would be an investigation of the power outage to determine long-term solutions. The legislature held hearings with power plant chief executives, but not with natural gas industry leaders. In March 2021, Congress launched an investigation into the power crisis by requesting documents relating to winter weather preparedness from

SECTION 10

#1732794320384

864-462: Is housed in the building. The 301 San Jacinto facility is a former jail. Before 1982 a portion of the 3rd floor had the headquarters of the HCSO. Three floors housed inmates. The basement had the booking, kitchen, laundry, and releasing areas. The commissary operated in a room on one of the housing floors. The Alberti lawsuit forced the county to build additional jails. In 2002 400 trustees were housed in

936-441: Is one American football field deep and two American football fields in length. 430 sheriff's deputies and detention officers work at the facility. The facility houses an inmate classification center. Each floor has counseling rooms, MHMRA examination/interview rooms, multi-purpose rooms, a recreation area, triage rooms. The fourth floor houses women. The sixth floor houses a law library and vocational rooms. The jail offers New Choices,

1008-411: Is the moral hazard of the market which is when wind or solar or coal or nuclear underperforms, they lose money. And when gas power plants underperform they lose money. But when the gas producers underperform, they made money. And this is why the gas system gets a pass, which is it's very lucrative for it to fail, and that lucrative return shows up as political donations that curries favor that really gets

1080-681: The Deep South and the Ohio Valley , including Texas, Georgia , Louisiana , Arkansas , Tennessee , as well as states on the East Coast. A second storm developed off the Pacific Northwest on February 13 and began to gradually develop into an organized storm as it tracked southward toward Texas. It grew even more organized as it turned toward the northeast U.S. before splitting in half — one half continuing into Quebec and

1152-634: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in response to the February 2011 power outage in Texas . In mid-February 2021, a series of severe winter storms swept across the United States. This outbreak was due to the polar jet stream dipping particularly far south into the U.S., stretching from Washington to Texas, and running back north along the East Coast , allowing a polar vortex to bring very cold air across

1224-600: The Joe Kegans State Jail . The 1200 Jail (located at 1200 Baker Street) opened on January 23, 2003. The 1200 Jail has the administrative offices of the Sheriff's Department. The building has 603,000 square feet (56,000 m) of space, and it has a 100,000 square feet (9,300 m) parking garage. The facility, which has 4,156 regular beds, 124 beds for the Medical Division, and 96 beds for MHMRA,

1296-639: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department being the largest. The 1307 Jail (located at 1307 Baker Street), located east of the 701 Jail, was originally built as a state jail for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice . The building was at first occupied by the Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department. The building reopened under the Sheriff's office in 1998. As of 2010

1368-545: The Pam Lychner State Jail , serves state jail offenders from Harris County. As of 2001 Kegans serves lower risk offenders. 29°45′50″N 95°21′17″W  /  29.7639°N 95.3546°W  / 29.7639; -95.3546 This Houston -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a building or structure in Texas is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This prison-related article

1440-607: The Texas Legislature cut its community mental health services funding by $ 400 million in 2003. Between 2004 and 2009 the population of the Harris County jails increased from 7,648 to 11,546. From 2003 to 2011 the number of full-time psychiatrists increased from three to eleven. As of 2011 25% of prisoners require mental health services. Of them, 90% had been previously placed in the Harris County jail. The Harris County jail complex consists of three county jails and

1512-424: The grid frequency continued to drop as demand exceeded supply. The grid came within minutes of overloading and shutting down completely, which would have required a slow and costly black start . During the 2011 Groundhog Day blizzard , Texas had faced similar power outages due to frozen power equipment, after which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reported that more winterization of power infrastructure

SECTION 20

#1732794320384

1584-460: The two major national grids to avoid federal oversight, though it is still connected to the other national grids and Mexico's; the limited number of ties made it difficult for the state to import electricity from other states during the crisis. Deregulation of its electricity market beginning in the 1990s resulted in competition in wholesale electricity prices, but also cost cutting for contingency preparation. The crisis drew much attention to

1656-696: The $ 9,000 cap by ERCOT for two days longer than necessary, creating $ 16 billion in unnecessary charges. In 2011, Texas was hit by the Groundhog Day blizzard between February 1 and 5, resulting in rolling blackouts across more than 75% of the state. Many roads around Houston were impassable, and boil-water advisories were issued in several areas. Following this disaster, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation made several recommendations for upgrading Texas's electrical infrastructure to prevent

1728-655: The $ 9.8 billion spent in all of 2020. The legislature allowed issuance of about $ 5 billion in bonds to pay for it, or $ 200 per Texan. The then-CEO of ERCOT testified under oath that Governor Abbot had ordered power prices to stay at this level, which led to the bankruptcy of the Brazos Electric co-op. Water service was disrupted for more than 12 million people due to pipes freezing and bursting. More than 200,000 people in Texas live in areas where water systems were completely non-operational. On February 17, residents of Austin were asked not to drip their faucets despite

1800-472: The Farm Shop, a place where stray livestock confiscated by the Sheriff are kept. The Joe Kegans State Jail is a Texas state jail that generally houses inmates from Harris County serving shorter term felonies. It is the only jail in the complex that is a state facility in contrast to a county jail. The 850,000 square feet (79,000 m) 1301 Franklin facility opened on September 13, 1982. The county built

1872-483: The Harris County Sheriff's Office is leasing the facility. The 1,070 inmate beds are located in two wings. The county designates this jail as a "Semi-Direct Observation," where staff members monitor inmates in the dormitory area continuously for twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. One lieutenant, nine sergeants, and 112 sheriff's deputies and detention officers staff the jail. The jail also has

1944-621: The Harris County jail facilities together have a capacity for 9,575 inmates; at time they have held over 12,000. Due to a state-mandated staffing ratio, the HCSO had to ship inmates to other jails, including some in Louisiana ; in June 2010 1,600 Harris County inmates were serving time at other jails. By January 2012 the Harris County jails had 8,573, a decrease by 31% from 2008 to 2012, and there were only 21 inmates serving time in other jail facilities, all in Texas. The jail population increased since

2016-642: The LaSalle Correctional Center in Louisiana. Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility is operated by CoreCivic . Harris County Jail has been known publicly as one of the most violent and deadly jails in the country. Harris County Jail has a long history of guards assaulting prisoners brutally to death, failure in protecting prisoners from assaults, solitary confinement as punishment, allowing suicides attempts of vulnerable detainees, and medically neglecting pregnant women. Mikayla Savage,

2088-725: The State of Texas, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide emergency assistance throughout Texas. FEMA sent 60 generators, as well as water and blankets, to the state. Local churches, community centers and other locations opened warming stations for affected individuals as well as asked for physical and monetary donations to help those affected. Several local mutual aid groups responded with supply delivery and distribution, particularly in

2160-574: The Texas electric grid manager and ERCOT. The Railroad Commission blamed power producers for gas supply issues, even though its chair Christi Craddick was aware of gas supply problems prior to the outages. Cold weather disrupted 22 gas processing plants two days before blackouts began. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is investigating anomalies in the natural gas market, where companies may have illegally manipulated prices. Intrastate pipelines are not required to report their tariffs like interstate pipelines, making it harder to investigate. FERC

2232-400: The Texas power grid was four minutes and 37 seconds away from complete failure when partial grid shutdowns were implemented. During the crisis, some energy firms made billions in profits, while others went bankrupt, due to some firms being able to pass extremely high wholesale prices ($ 9,000/MWh, typically $ 50/MWh) on to consumers, while others could not, with this price being allegedly held at

Harris County, Texas jails - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-602: The U.S. and 6 in Mexico. At least 246 people lost their lives during the winter storms. The winter storm caused a record low temperature at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport of −2 °F (−19 °C) on February 16, the coldest in North Texas in 72 years. Most Texan homes, which infrequently see low temperatures, have poor insulation and are heated with inefficient electric resistance heaters , resulting in extremely high electricity demand. Power equipment in Texas

2376-416: The additional expenses. The building had been unoccupied for two years before it re-opened in 1997. The building was formally dedicated at 10 A.M. on Wednesday October 15, 1997. As of 1997 all prisoners at the unit are convicted of parole violations such as non-violent property crimes. The unit was named after Joe Kegans, a state district judge who died in 1997 at 69 years of age. The Kegans Jail, along with

2448-420: The carcinogen benzene , two tons of sulfur dioxide , 12 tons of natural gas, and 34 tons of carbon monoxide . Targa Resources ' Wildcat and Sand Hills natural gas plants released four times the emissions of the nation's largest refinery during the freeze. The combination of below freezing temperatures with no power for heat led people to undertake dangerous ways of heating their homes. Deaths attributed to

2520-574: The country, and spawning multiple storms along the jet stream track as a result. This weather phenomenon resulted in record low temperatures throughout Texas, with temperatures in Dallas , Austin , Houston and San Antonio falling below temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska . On February 10, a winter storm formed north of the Gulf coast , dropping significant amounts of sleet and ice on many states in

2592-526: The county authorities began purchasing furniture instead of reupholstering existing pieces; these actions resulted in the end of leathercraft, radio and television repair, and upholstery programs. Previously the jail only had job training for male inmates in certain programs but by 2019 began admitting female inmates into these programs. In previous eras prisoners who still had the right to vote, as in prisoners who were not convicted of felony offenses, received mail-in ballots so they could vote elections. In 2021

2664-435: The energy shortage, Governor Abbott ordered natural gas producers not to export gas out of state and to sell it within Texas instead. He also called for the resignation of ERCOT leaders. Former Representative Beto O'Rourke ran a virtual phone bank to contact over 780,000 seniors across the state. Colorado City, Texas , Mayor Tim Boyd faced extreme backlash after he made comments criticizing citizens for not preparing for

2736-548: The first two months of 2023. The investigation looked into the February 2021 death of Jaquaree Simmons, and the January 2023 death of Jacoby Pillow. An earlier internal investigation into Simmons's death by the Harris County Sheriff's Office led to 11 firings, 6 suspensions, and one corrections worker charged for manslaughter . 2021 Texas power crisis In February 2021, the state of Texas suffered

2808-400: The grid, a scenario which could have caused equipment to catch fire and power lines to go down, potentially resulting in a much more severe blackout. At the peak, over 5 million people in Texas were without power, with 11 million experiencing an outage at some point, some for more than 3 days. During the period of outages, the wholesale electric price was set to $ 9,000/ megawatt-hour which

2880-443: The hard-hit Houston and Austin areas. Celebrities such as Beyoncé and Reese Witherspoon teamed up with companies to provide monetary relief, donated personally, and supplied donation links to their social media followers to raise relief and awareness. Through his " We're Texas " virtual benefit concert, Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves McConaughey raised over $ 7.7 million to continue support for those affected by

2952-473: The jail complex. As of November 2022, 24 prisoners in the jail complex died in custody in the year 2022. In 2022, 80% of the prisoners are classified as having mental health issues, and as of November 2022, more than 12 of the deaths in custody had documented issues with mental health. On April 5, 2024, an Israel-Hamas war protest took place outside of the jail as at least three protesters at an earlier Al Quds Day demonstration had been arrested. As of 2024

Harris County, Texas jails - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-448: The jail due to the aftermath of the early 1980s Alberti lawsuit. The jail, with 13 stories and a basement, had the HCSO's administrative offices. The facility opened on September 13, 1982, and had the capacity to house around 4,000 inmates. After the opening of the 1200 Jail on January 23, 2003, the former Franklin facility was no longer used as a jail. Currently the HCSO's Crime Scene Unit, Emergency Dispatch Center(EDC), Warrants and A.F.I.S

3096-652: The jail set up a dedicated center for voting. In November of that year 96 prisoners voted. Harris County spends $ 50 million of taxpayer funds annually on the outsourcing of people held in the jail. In September 2024, Harris County announced that it would begin outsourcing people in its custody to Natchitoches Parish Detention Center, located more than 200 miles away in Louisiana. This became the County's third out-of-state outsourcing contract, in addition to ones with Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi and

3168-529: The late 1920s. The Houston Terminal Warehouse and Cold Storage Facility was constantly occupied throughout its history. In 1989 the county completed the planning and design stage of its new jail. The cold storage portion was allowed to thaw, and construction on the facility began in December of that year. The facility was gutted and two floors were added. The 701 Jail opened in August 1991. Harris County stated that

3240-591: The low temperatures with animal sanctuaries and veterinary clinics identifying an increase in hypothermia cases in the animals. Governor Abbott issued a disaster declaration on February 12, whereby he mobilized various departments including the Texas Military Department for snow clearance and assistance to stranded motorists. As the situation worsened, Governor Abbott requested a Federal Emergency Declaration on February 13, which President Biden approved on February 14. In an effort to alleviate

3312-427: The night of February 17 instead of resetting the prices the following day. Power generation entities benefited from the inflated prices, but retail companies and entities that buy the generated power to sell directly to consumers have gone bankrupt. Joe Kegans State Jail Joe Kegans Intermediate Sanctions Facility is an Intermediate Sanctions facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice located along

3384-435: The northeast edge of Downtown Houston , Texas . The approximately 1 acre (0.40 ha) facility for men is located .5 miles (0.80 km) south of Interstate 10 . The detention facility building that Kegans uses first opened in February 1995 as a place to house nonviolent offenders in order to relieve prison overcrowding . The unit closed after four months of use because not enough inmates had been put there to justify

3456-543: The other moving out over the Atlantic Ocean . This storm, along with various other storms from the previous two weeks, resulted in over 75% of the contiguous U.S. being covered in snow. This storm was directly responsible for nearly 10 million people losing power, with 5.2 million in the U.S. and 4.7 million in Mexico . A third winter storm caused an additional 4 million power outages, and 29 deaths, with 23 in

3528-535: The pipe network. People were seen collecting water from the San Antonio River Walk with trash cans. Due to the inclement weather conditions and extensive power outages, most grocery stores statewide could not keep up with the increased demand for food and sundry items. Many stores were forced to close due to lack of power; the few that remained open completely ran out of most staple food items like bread, milk, and eggs. Officials also warned that

3600-409: The program. Vocational programs happen around Downtown and have done so since September 2004, when the former Atascocita boot camp, which once housed the programs, was closed. The jail no longer has animal husbandry programs as generally prisoners no longer are positioned for agricultural careers. The jail officers discontinued wearing cowboy boots, television and radio repair was deemed obsolete, and

3672-481: The re-use of the warehouse saved the county about $ 21,000,000. About 600 sheriff's deputies and detention officers work in the facility. The county designates the 701 Jail as a "Direct Observation" facility, where staff members monitor inmates continuously for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. In 2002 the 701 Jail was the second largest American jail, with the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail of

SECTION 50

#1732794320384

3744-502: The risk of pipes freezing as the demand for water in the city was more than 2.5 times the amount supplied on the previous day. The city had lost more than 325 million US gallons (1.23 × 10  L) of water due to burst pipes by February 18, according to Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros. Nearly 12 million people were advised to boil their tap water before consumption due to low water pressure throughout

3816-464: The shortages could be long term, stating that 60% of the region's grapefruit crop and 100% of the orange crop were lost due to the weather. The inclement weather caused many fire hydrants to be unusable in emergency situations. In one case, firefighters near the San Antonio area had to rely on water tenders to deliver between 2,000 and 3,000 gallons of water to the scene of a fire as the hydrant

3888-524: The state during a crisis and traveling internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Later that day, Cruz returned back to Texas admitting that the vacation was a mistake, receiving further criticism for appearing to blame his young daughters for the trip, claiming they begged him to go. Cruz on February 22 tweeted the news about the hike of electricity rates in Texas, calling "(s)tate and local regulators should act swiftly to prevent this injustice". This

3960-502: The state's lack of preparedness for such storms, and to a report from U.S. federal regulators ten years earlier that had warned Texas that its power plants would fail in sufficiently cold conditions. Damages due to the cold wave and winter storm were estimated to be at least $ 195 billion, likely the most expensive disaster in the state's history. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) ,

4032-409: The statewide officials to turn a blind eye to it." By February 17, at least 21 people died from causes related to the winter storm. By February 19, the number was updated to at least 32 people who died, with deaths linked to carbon monoxide poisoning, car crashes, drownings, house fires and hypothermia. On February 21, the death toll had increased to 70. As of January 2, 2022, the total loss of life

4104-668: The storm include cases of carbon monoxide poisoning from people running their cars or generators indoors for heating. At least 300 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning were reported. The state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas was somewhat hampered by the power outage. Water and grid supply were cut off from hospitals. Hospitals still were able to operate with their own power generators. Shipments of vaccines were delayed and facilities that would not be able to store vaccines properly were asked to transfer vaccines to those who could. In most cases, vaccinations were delayed because it

4176-783: The storm. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez organized a fundraiser to provide food, water, and shelter to affected Texans, raising $ 2 million in its first day. She followed up with a trip to Houston to help alongside volunteers with recovery. She along with other Democrats toured the damage left behind by the storm as well as distribution centers and delivery sites. In the end, she raised $ 4.7 million. Power outages in Harris County , Texas's most populated counties and one of its most affected, returned to normal around February 22, 2021. Boil-water advisories lasted in some areas of Texas until February 27, 2021. On February 16, 2021, Governor Greg Abbott declared that ERCOT reform

4248-465: The top four floors in the building. As of the same year administrative offices, court processing/holding cells, and visitation facilities were in the basement. The facility's formal capacity was 409. The Crites Vocational Center is away from the main jail area. In the middle of the 1970s the county government established job training courses for inmates of the county jail. The state of Texas provided funding. Houston Community College (HCC) assisted with

4320-468: The winter storm and stating: "the strong will survive and the weak will perish." He resigned following the controversy. Senator Ted Cruz faced heavy scrutiny over his trip to Cancún, Mexico . Though he initially claimed he was dropping off his wife and daughters, text messages from his wife revealed the hastily planned nature of the trip as an escape from the freezing conditions. He received condemnation from his political allies and rivals for leaving

4392-457: Was criticized as hypocrisy because Cruz had been a strong advocate of the Texan power grid deregulation, one of the major cited reasons which led to this mass power outage. Former governor Rick Perry said, "Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business." On February 14, President Biden declared that an emergency existed in

SECTION 60

#1732794320384

4464-479: Was cut, it disabled some compressors that push gas through pipelines, knocking out further gas plants due to lack of supply. ERCOT was aware on February 13 that blackouts would be likely and the grid would have to shut off more than 10% of its demand. The next day, electricity demand exceeded 67.2 gigawatts, higher than what the grid operator had ever planned for in extreme winter weather. Overnight ERCOT ordered utilities to drop several thousand megawatts of load, but

4536-587: Was enough generation for "normal" winter weather. On March 1, 2021, DeAnn T. Walker, the chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission (PUC), the Texas agency responsible for overseeing ERCOT and the state's electricity grid, resigned after a week of tough questioning from Texas legislators at a round of hearings. Governor Greg Abbott , who had originally appointed Walker, filled the vacant chairperson position by promoting PUC Commissioner Arthur D'Andrea two days later. On March 9, 2021, D'Andrea

4608-531: Was necessary. ERCOT said that some generators since then implemented new winter "best practices," but these were on a voluntary basis and mandatory regulation had not been established. This is likely due to ERCOT's independence of the FERC therefore not having the necessary budget to upgrade the power grid to withstand colder weather after the recommendation during efforts to increase renewable energy sources. Unlike other power interconnections, Texas does not require

4680-417: Was not winterized , leaving it vulnerable to extended periods of cold weather. Natural gas power generating facilities had equipment freeze up and faced shortages of fuel. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and some other politicians initially said renewable energy sources were the cause for the power outages, citing frozen wind turbines as an example of their unreliability. Viral images of a helicopter de-icing

4752-437: Was not only insufficient power generation capacity online, but also insufficient natural gas supply to the power plants. The failure of some gas distribution infrastructure, which had not been adequately winterized, resulted in exceedingly high prices for natural gas. Some gas compressor stations lost power when utilities began shutdowns, and overall gas supply fell by 85%. University of Texas professor Michael Webber said, "This

4824-491: Was recorded reassuring utility investors that he would protect their profits in a 48-minute call that was later leaked to the press. D'Andrea resigned his post a week later, two hours after the call was leaked. At issue is $ 16 billion in alleged overcharges that accrued when the PUC issued orders requiring ERCOT set the price of electricity at the $ 9,000-a-megawatt-hour maximum for nearly two days after widespread outages ended late

4896-423: Was reported to be 246, with deaths in 77 counties. Victims included children less than a year old to elderly up to 102 years old. Reports found that almost two-thirds died of hypothermia and that 148 deaths were directly caused by the storm, 92 deaths were indirectly caused by the storm, and 6 deaths were found as possibly caused by the storm. In addition to equipment problems, demand for electricity in Texas hit

4968-655: Was the "system cap" set by ERCOT, compared to a more typical $ 25/MWh. Customers with pricing plans based on wholesale prices who had power faced large bills. Some Griddy customers signed up for wholesale variable rates plans allowed by the Texas deregulated electricity market found themselves facing over $ 5,000 bills for five days of service during the storm. Wholesale prices were kept at an artificially inflated level of $ 9,000 for about four days, an amount normally only hit momentarily, in fear of instability even after electricity demand dropped. Total Texas electricity costs on February 16 alone reached $ 10.3 billion, greater than

5040-459: Was too dangerous for people to travel. About 1000 doses of vaccine were lost as a result of problems. Due to the continued power outages across the state, many were faced with freezing temperatures in their homes increasing a risk of hypothermia . The freezing temperatures potentially caused the death of an 11-year old boy, an 84-year-old widow, and a 75-year-old veteran, among others. Zoo, domesticated, and wild animals were also at risk due to

5112-540: Was unable to say if there was price gouging. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has not announced investigations into energy prices. Five members of ERCOT unaffiliated with Texas entities resigned due to the power failures. All five lived out of state and one lived in Canada. The ERCOT board of directors voted to fire its CEO, Bill Magness, who turned down his $ 800,000 severance package. ERCOT admitted that there could be blackouts in winter 2022, reporting that there

5184-506: Was unusable. Plumbing in buildings throughout the state burst due to freezing. Structures were damaged by water and streets were flooded. A shortage of plumbers, in part due to excessive licensing requirements kept in place by Governor Abbott despite the legislature removing them, led to months-long waits for repairs. Significant releases of pollutants due to stopping and starting fossil fuel infrastructure such as chemical plants and fuel refineries were reported. These included one ton of

#383616