Energy & Science
Texas Deep Freeze Should Cost Ercot Billions, Judge Told
- Harris County Urges Texas Supreme Court To Withhold Immunity
- Texas Economic Losses From February Freeze Top $195 billion
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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The power grid operator in Texas shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind government immunity to avoid legal responsibility for billions of dollars in blackout-related losses, attorneys for the largest county in the state told Texas’s highest court.
The Texas Supreme Court is deliberating whether to extend so-called sovereign immunity to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, in a long-running separate fight over power plant construction. But if the court grants Ercot immunity in that case, the repercussions could be wide-ranging with the operator using the ruling to avoid liability in other cases, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said in a court filing Tuesday.