This morning we received the same report presented to all members of the Texas Legislature: The Story of ERCOT, prepared by the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power. It's a mammoth thing -- 110 pages based, says TCAP, on "months of research, including a review of journalistic accounts, regulatory documents, academic studies and years of data from the United States Energy Information Administration." Long story short, from the release:
The Story of ERCOT documents an alarming increase in borrowing and spending by the organization and a lack of accountability to state officials and regulators. The report shows that self-interested industry players dominate the ERCOT board while Texas consumers, who indirectly or directly pay the entire cost of the organization and the electric market that it helps oversee, have only a limited voice.I'm early into the doc -- the history-of, to be specific, dealing with the 1913 creation of the 60,000-volt line created to juice up the Dallas-Waco Interurban Electric Trolley Car System; that's round about where the click-to-embiggen map you see here comes in. But I've skimmed the rest -- and anyone remember the '04 scam that resulted in the '06 conviction of former FBI agent Carlos Luquis? Then there's this, from one of the myriad and-say-did-ya-know? sidebars contained within:
There have been 6,593 circuit miles and $ 4.4 billion in transmission improvements added in the ERCOT region since 1999. Another 2,888 miles are currently under study. Many of the proposed transmission lines will serve wind generators in West Texas and the Panhandle, rather than being used to directly relieve pressure on lines connecting metropolitan areas such as Houston and Dallas.You just had a rolling blackout, didn't you?
