Overview
As we reported on February 18 and February 23, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have kicked-off investigations into the February cold weather events that put much of the country into a prolonged freeze.[1]
Congressional committees have now jumped into the fray, particularly concerning the preparation and response of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). In total, four Congressional committees are now conducting oversight on February's cold weather events:
Senate Energy: This Thursday, March 11, the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a full committee hearing on "The Reliability, Resiliency, And Affordability Of Electric Service." Though couched as an effort "to examine the reliability, resiliency, and affordability of electric service in the United States amid the changing energy mix and extreme weather events," it will surely focus on the events in Texas last month. A witness list is available at the link. The Senate Energy Committee exercises broad jurisdiction over domestic energy markets and its regulators, including FERC. The hearing will likely offer a first indication of whether Congress will make steps toward legislating on reliability issues this year.
House Energy and Commerce: The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce stepped in early to investigate the events in Texas with a letter to Governor Abbott on February 19, and on Thursday fired off an investigative letter to ERCOT. Both letters make extensive information requests. Committee Chairman Frank Pallone has strongly indicated that his panel will hold hearings on February's events. Energy and Commerce exercises primary jurisdiction over energy policy in the House and is well known as its pre-eminent investigatory panel. Although the committee will have to balance its upcoming legislative work on climate change and other matters, most expect that it will continue to devote attention to Texas in the coming weeks and months.
House Science: Late Friday, the US House Committee on Science, Space & Technology scheduled a March 18 hearing on, "Lessons Learned from the Texas Blackouts: Research Needs for a Secure and Resilient Grid." No additional information about the hearing is yet available. As the title of the hearing suggests, House Science has limited legislative jurisdiction in this area (mainly confined to federal research and development measures). The Committee Chair, Rep. Eddie Bernice-Johnson, represents portions of Dallas.
House Oversight: On March 3, the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform, led by its Environment Subcommittee Chair Ro Khanna (CA), began a formal investigation of ERCOT's role in February's failures. Khanna's letter to ERCOT contains broad information and document requests, clearly foreshadowing an extensive and lengthy investigation by the subcommittee. House Oversight does not have much, if any, legislative jurisdiction to effect change in the matters it investigates. It does have very broad powers and a robust staff to conduct those investigations, however. Accordingly, look for that panel to play a leading role in this area for the balance of the year.
Given ERCOT's unique status compared to other grid operators, it is unclear what federal regulatory or legislative changes might come out of these investigations, but one thing is for certain—regulatory and Congressional oversight committees will continue to focus on the events of last month for the foreseeable future.
Steptoe's team offers great breadth and depth to assist clients in Congressional and regulatory inquiries and with regulatory or civil claims that might be associated with the impact of severe weather events on the power industry.
[1] See, e.g., Complaint by Michael Mabee, FERC Docket No. EL21-54 (February 28, 2021) (alleging that the Texas grid events of February 15, 2021 resulted from either a failure to comply with mandatory Reliability Standards or that mandatory Reliability Standards were ineffective).
