AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: The above video is from midday Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021.
The Texas House Committees on State Affairs and Energy Resources held a joint hearing Thursday, Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. to discuss the factors that led to statewide electrical failures and outages during last week's historic winter storm.
The committees heard from the Electric Reliability Council Of Texas (ERCOT) as well as the executives of power companies.
Testimony started at 9 a.m. and didn't end until after 12 a.m. Friday. Watch the full hearing here:
Among the items discussed Thursday is providing relief – or perhaps even paying for – the exorbitant electric bills that many Texans are about to start receiving.
"There's no solution yet but there's ongoing discussion and talk. I was in a meeting today discussing that very thing," said State Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, who is chairman of the House Committee on Energy Resources. "The leaders of the state of Texas are certainly aware of it, certainly aware of what's getting ready to come and we are looking for solutions and talking different people about what those solutions look like."
Goldman told WFAA on Wednesday that Thursday's hearings are the first of many to come.
“We’re going to go as long as we need to go ask every single stakeholder the questions that we want to ask. There’s 24 total members on the combined [House] committees and there’s no limit for how many questions a member can ask or no limit on how long a stakeholder is going to be in front of us. We’re going to sit there until every single last question is asked,” Goldman said.
The state Senate is holding its own hearings simultaneously.
There are only a little more than 90 days left in the legislative session.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Texans in a Wednesday address that this legislative session "will not end until we fix these problems. And we will ensure that the tragic events of the past week are never repeated."
The committees are in recess until 9 a.m. Friday.