Texas Lawmakers Advance Bills to Prevent Another Energy Crisis

(Bloomberg) -- Texas lawmakers advanced at least five bills meant to prevent a repeat of February’s energy crisis that left millions in the dark during a deep winter freeze.

The measures, which include one that would require power plants to winterize their facilities and another banning electricity providers from offering plans tied to the volatile wholesale market, cleared a House committee Thursday. The bills now head to the full chamber for debate. They include:

• HB 10, to change the make-up of the governing board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the grid
• HB 11, requiring generators to prepare for extreme weather
• HB 12, calling for a study on an alert system for statewide disasters and power outages
• HB 13, to establish the Texas Energy Disaster Reliability Council
• HB 16, prohibiting retail electricity plans indexed to wholesale market

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