The mayor of Dallas says he is ready to testify before the state legislature in favor of ERCOT reform. Mayor Eric Johnson, also a former state representative, says the state needs to take action to prevent rolling blackouts in the future.
"I hope the legislature jumps in immediately," Johnson says. "The problem is with the grid. Everyone needs to do their job and hold everyone accountable who's responsible, and changes need to be made."
Governor Greg Abbott has declared "ERCOT reform" an emergency item for the Texas legislature, which is meeting now. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan has called for the State Affairs and Energy Resources Committee to hold hearings February 25.
Johnson says the legislature should consider reforms for ERCOT, but he says lawmakers should also look at dissolving ERCOT and returning Texas to the two other grids serving the United States.
"The whole range should be on the table," he says.
Some North Texans say they hope the legislature will act this year, saying nothing happened after the last rolling blackouts in 2011.
"We definitely need a better infrastructure for winter weather, even though it's not that common," one woman, who lives in Fort Worth, said.
"Certain neighborhoods didn't have any rolling blackouts at all and then we had a continuous outage. It was out for four days," another said.
