This week is the one-year anniversary of the Texas Blackout. Many Texans are still rebuilding after the emotional and physical damage caused by the Blackout. Texans lost loved ones – over 700 Texans are estimated to have perished during the Blackout. We have heard many of these tragic stories in the last week. Now with each impending winter storm, Texans fear a repeat of the Blackout disaster. That fear is warranted. The Texas electric grid remains at risk because the gas that fuels it has not been made reliable. Our grid will not be fixed as long as Gov. Abbott, and the Republican Party that has run Texas for the last 30 years, prioritizes campaign donations from the gas industry over the lives of Texans.
To understand how this colossal energy failure happened in Texas, the energy capital of the United States, and why it has not been remedied, we must understand that powerful interests profit off our misery and insecurity. Because while the Blackout was the “worst of times” for most Texans – huddled in our homes with our arms around our children, isolated from friends and extended families, some alone and frightened in assisted living facilities and hospitals – it was the “best of times” for Greg Abbott’s benefactors in the gas industry, who profited while Texans were in agony and dying. As one gas executive said about the week of the Blackout, it was “like hitting the jackpot.” When Gov. Abbott turned a blind eye to the failings of the gas industry during the Blackout, the profiteers made sure to reward his favor with exorbitant campaign contributions.
Many of us tried to secure the grid. The Blackout happened while the Texas Legislature was in session. I filed House Bill 3912 to require power plants and the gas industry that fuels those plants to weatherize their equipment with proceeds from their profits. That bill did not receive a hearing under our Republican leadership. Gov. Abbott’s office was intimately involved in navigating legislation addressing the Blackout. As of today, the natural gas industry that fuels our power plants has still not been required to weatherize, despite the fact that natural gas is the single largest source of fuel to our Texas power grid, and, according to every reputable expert on the issue, including a report issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in November, the disruption of natural gas service during Uri was the single biggest failure that led to the Blackout.
While power plants, utilities, and, most importantly, consumers were hit hard financially by the Blackout, the gas industry scored record profits, in the billions. The biggest profiteer was Energy Transfer Partners, a gas company that made a whopping $2.4 billion during the Blackout. The co-founder of Energy Transfer, Kelcy Warren, gave Gov. Abbott $1 million dollars after the legislative session, an amount far greater than he had ever contributed to the governor.
This is just one glaring example of the hold and influence that the gas industry has over Gov. Abbott and the Republican party that has singularly ruled statewide for the last 30 years. Gov. Abbott has raised more than $166 million in campaign contributions since 2014 and about $30 million of that is from the oil and gas industry. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick received $1.3 million from energy interests after the last legislative session – the most he has ever received from this industry after a legislative session.
Receiving mountains of cash from the industry executives who have profited off the worst disaster in Texas history may not be illegal. In a state that’s been under one-party rule for 30 years, some might even call it “politics as usual.” But we all know that prioritizing the profits of special interests over the lives of everyday Texans is a story as old as time: It is the tale of corruption.
First elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2016, Gina Hinojosa proudly serves the constituents of District 49 in the heart of Austin and the central corridor of the Texas capital city. Gina also previously served as an AISD School Board member, including board president. A native Texan and proud Austinite since 1992, Gina lives in Central Austin with her husband, John Donisi, two sons, Matteo and Pablo, and their dog, Baffi.
This article appears in February 18 • 2022.