ERCOT

Texas’ power grid manager was fired Wednesday amid growing calls for his ouster following February’s deadly blackouts that left millions of people without electricity and heat for days in subfreezing temperatures.

On Thursday, managers of Texas’ power grid are expected to receive a lashing in the first public hearings about the crisis at the state Capitol — where the belief that less government is better is reflected in a part-time Legislature that meets just once every two years, and only for 140 days.

In a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday, DeAnn Walker resigned as the Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and is calling on others to come forward and accept their role in last month’s energy crisis.

The board that oversees ERCOT held an urgent meeting Wednesday morning to discuss the winter storm that crippled most of Texas last week. They offered apologies for the devastation the power outages have caused and pledged to gather the facts to help lawmakers determine how to prevent it from ever happening again.

Four ERCOT board members, including the chairwoman and vice chairman, submitted their resignation Tuesday in the wake of the winter storm that left millions of Texas residents without electricity for days, citing “concerns about out-of-state leadership,” a Texas Public Utility Commission docket shows.