Contact: Regina Davis, 202-898-9382, rdavis@naruc.org

WASHINGTON (March 8, 2021) — In response to the February extreme cold weather event in Texas, resulting in significant electric outages across the Electric Reliability Council of Texas  system, the National Regulatory Research Institute has published a new paper in its Insights series: “Regulatory Questions Engendered by the Texas Energy Crisis of 2021.”

Authors Carl Pechman, PhD, and Elliott Nethercutt delve into the important regulatory questions that have arisen in the wake of the event. These questions fall into two general categories: (1) Who should pay the enormous toll of skyrocketing electric prices and how to determine how much should be paid? and (2) What actions can be taken to help prevent a recurrence of a failure of this magnitude?

NRRI, which is the research arm of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, introduces these questions to foster better understanding of the event, facilitate conversations, identify potential solutions and focus on a learning experience that will help to prevent such crises in the future.

“The solution to building a more resilient grid will involve the input of many stakeholders. It will be a complicated conversation, with many competing interests, but a necessary one,” said NRRI and NARUC Executive Director Greg R. White. 

To download the paper, click here.

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About NRRI

The National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) was founded in 1976 by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). NRRI serves as a research arm to NARUC and its members, the utility regulatory commissions of the fifty states and the District of Columbia in the United States. NRRI’s primary mission is to produce and disseminate relevant and applicable research for NARUC members.