Five members of the board of directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), including the board chairman and vice chairman, are resigning from their seats Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing.
The resignations follow a series of statewide power outages in the wake of extreme winter weather that left millions of Texans in the cold for days.
According to the filing with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Sally Talberg, Peter Cramton, Terry Bulger, and Raymond Hepper are resigning.
Talberg and Cramtom are the board's chair and vice-chair; Bulger chaired the board's Finance & Audit committee, while Heper chaired the board's Human Resources & Governance committee.
The letter was not signed by board member Vanessa Anesetti-Parra, but later a notice was sent from ERCOT to the Public Utility Commission saying she does intend to resign today during the ERCOT Board of Directors meeting.
"We want to acknowledge the pain and suffering of Texans during this past week," the four wrote in a resignation letter sent to fellow board members. "Our hearts go out to all Texans who have had to go without electricity, heat, and water during frigid temperatures and continue to face the tragic consequences of this emergency."
Craig Ivey, who was a candidate to fill a vacant seat on the board, has also withdrawn his candidacy, according to a separate filing.
All five individuals live outside of the state of Texas, a point of concern that some have raised as concerns about ERCOT's leadership have grown in the past week.
"The Board Chairman, Board Vice Chairman and both Committee Chairman leadership roles will be vacant," according to the notice submitted by attorneys representing ERCOT.
Five members of the 15-member board are unaffiliated members, in that they do not have ties to Texas energy entities or markets. All five of those seats will be vacant.
