“Texas needs a conservative leader who understands business and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is that leader. During his first session as Lt. Governor, he has helped grow the state and make the Texas economy even stronger. We need him and thank God we have him.”
“I have worked with every Lt. Governor for the past 66 years and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is among the very best.”
“Lt. Governor Patrick has been a very effective advocate for Texas business and a leader in successful efforts to recruit businesses to our state.”
“When it comes to energy issues in Texas, Dan gets it, recognizing the important role our abundant supplies of crude oil and natural gas plays in strengthening our economy and, more broadly, our national security.”
“Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is a fighter for Texas business — championing low taxes, reasonable regulation and bedrock lawsuit reform. His leadership will ensure our state continues to be the job-creating engine for the nation.”
“Governor Patrick has been more engaged on energy issues than any Lieutenant Governor in memory”
“He is a tireless champion for small business with a focus on reducing property and business taxes.”
“Lt. Governor Patrick was the first person we turned to… he protected our pension, helped the families of fallen officers and providing funding for bulletproof vests…”
“Dan Patrick’s leadership of the Texas Senate is a major reason Texas remains the best place to live, work and raise a family. I’m proud of what Dan has accomplished and urge everyone to vote to re-elect him as Lt. Governor.”
“Dan Patrick has proven to be a partner in our fight to advance conservative ideas, preserve Texas values and keep our state the envy of the nation. Working together over the past two legislative sessions, we have passed reforms that advanced individual liberty and created greater opportunities for all Texans. I look forward to continuing our work in the next legislative session, and I am proud to endorse his re-election for Lieutenant Governor.”
“Dan Patrick has proven a steadfast, unapologetic leader in advancing the principles that make the Lone Star State the best in the nation. He has consistently fought against efforts to expand taxes and regulations, he has defended our constitutional liberties, and he has worked hard to provide more and better opportunities to help Texans achieve the American Dream, most notably through his tireless championing of school choice. I am proud to stand with Dan and support his re-election and look forward to continuing to work with him for years to come on behalf of 28 million Texans.”
Watch Lt. Governor Patrick's latest video

About Dan Patrick
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is a principled conservative who stands up for the people of Texas.
Unwavering in his fight for life and liberty, Lieutenant Governor Patrick has presided over what has been called the most conservative and productive sessions of the State Senate in Texas history. Under his leadership, the Texas Senate has dramatically increased funding for border security, ended sanctuary cities, enhanced pro-life protections, and protected religious freedoms.
Lt. Governor Patrick brought home solid conservative victories for the State of Texas during the 86th Legislature, including the first real property tax reform legislation in 40 years.
A preeminent voice for conservative principles both in Texas and across the nation, Lieutenant Governor Patrick does not back down in the face of liberal opposition. Dan Patrick is committed to continuing the fight for the people of Texas. He won re-election in 2018.
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Dan Patrick
2 days ago
Curt Morgan, CEO of VistraCorp, gave testimony in the power outage investigation hearings today that could be a smoking gun. ICYMI, you can watch the hearing here: senate.texas.gov/av-live.php.
On Feb 9 Morgan’s experts projected a 74K megawatt demand. ERCOT was projecting in the mid-60’s. He was right. ERCOT was wrong.
On Feb 10 Morgan told ERCOT they didn’t have enough energy to meet demand and said he was surprised at their lack of urgency. He said he was also surprised that no red flags were raised adding that the Governor, the Lt. Governor and Legislative leaders should have been told there was not enough power to meet likely demand. As Lt. Governor, I did not know ERCOT had this information or that disaster was pending. ...
The Texas State Senate – Senate Live Broadcasts
senate.texas.gov
To watch one of today's live streaming broadcasts, find your desired program to the leftabove and click the "play" button. Today's programs are listed by their scheduled start time.Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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You are the smoking gun. You’ve had years to fix the problems. Instead, you took “campaign donations” to look the other way, throwing Texans under the bus. Criminal negligence resulting in deaths.
But you did know that ten years ago feds recommended weatherizing energy infrastructure and Texas issued no regulations to see that happen. Underestimating demand is one thing but having catastrophic failures in the ability to supply what electricity existed is criminal and lead to dozens of deaths. When are Texas politicians going to admit they share the blame here?!
On every page on Facebook, every problem ends up being the fault of either democrats or republicans. No one wants to see any flaws in their politicians they voted for. Same tired exchanges. No one wants to accept responsibility which is why this country is so divided and messed up. The people behind the curtain who pull the strings are licking their chops.
You are telling me that you did not do your due diligence about an impending weather emergency that is A) exceptional and B) will affect your constituents? Uh huh... No politician ignores potentially bad PR situations. You all tend to be aware of anything that risks your rich lifestyles Now tell me, how much have they contributed to your campaigns?
Ercot is criminal in making financial decisions that killed people, injured many others and damaged property. Many pipes would not have frozen if homes were warm. The local provider should also be held accountable for not going onto a rolling schedule so everyone had a chance to warm the house up between planned outages. There was also No communication so you didn't know if you headed to a friend's house with power or hotel...were they next? Horrific and criminal, as well as massive civil liability IMO.
No Texan should be suffering because of the mismanagement of ERCOT. I believe that ERCOT and perhaps some energy generators bet against the storm making a direct hit. They figured that we’ve prepared for storms before that turned left or right and missed us. This time they guessed wrong and realized their error too late. By the time they sought to react, ERCOT’s call for serious help could not be answered. This opinion, I believe, is borne out by their late response to their staff meteorologist that the deep freeze was imminent.
Take some responsibility Dan. This is on you and every elected republican in the last 16 years. YOU GUYS OWN IT. YOU FAILED TO PREPARE THE STATE FOR THE STORM, YOU FAILED TO CLEAR OUR ROADWAYS, YOU FAILED TO COMMUNICATE INFORMATION, YOU FAILED TO MAKE SURE OUR STORES WERE STOCKED. YOU FAILED THE STATE IN EVERY IMAGINABLE WAY
You are blaming Texans for their astronomically and unreasonably high electric bills they will never be able to pay without financially ruining them. It’s not the responsibility of Texas citizens to operate and maintain a power grid so that catastrophic failure doesn’t occur. I hope any and every Texan sees you now for what you are and you get voted out of office and chased out of the state. The good and hard working people of Texas deserve better than you. I pray that karma comes for you.
Prayers. We need all the facts to come out in the investigation and a real corrective action plan.
Wow I love how these politicians are separating themselves from ERCOT and using them as a scapegoat as if they weren’t as equally responsible for this!
I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect the Chairman of the Texas Public Utilities Commission to have at least a basic understanding of how the Texas Power Grid works. She said today that she did not. After all, the PUC regulates ERCOT, the people who have not adequately prepared the system for heat or cold. Sounds like more changes are required.
The smoking gun is the unfettered access to politicians through money only a few can match that disproportionately influences our legislative process unfairly to help those who only help their investors is why these companies were not forced to winterize by law. The natural gas produces in Texas were able to increase the price of their resource by 4000% and our governor passed legislation to support this unregulated supply and demand for a utility that all of his citizens use and knew this would increase when hit with a crisis. And NOW, we, the citizens of Texas are going to PAY to fix this. That is the truth. You, Dan Patrick, are lying to people. And those lies got people killed.
Really?!? You didn't know? After they failed ten years ago? You were blindsided that "oops they did it again"? Had you seen them make any improvements? Did they send you any updates on improvements? Did you ask to see proof of any improvements or did you just take their word that "no, no we're good this time"? The smoke from the gun blows your way too.
Dan Patrick is there anyway the state can prevent Biden and his family from entering Texas? Something along the lines of preventing criminal enterprises into the state?
You didn’t know because you didn’t ask? So you’re a follower not a leader? What type of leader doesn’t ask questions? When you knew the storm was coming a week in advance why didn’t you ask questions? You knew about the recommendations to winterize 10yrs ago and issued zero regulations to ensure they are. Why is that?
He contacted your office. Why didn’t you know? It’s your job to ask questions.
Interesting and very enlightening. Thank you.
Plain and simple. Our leaders failed to regulate the requirements to winterize our plants. They failed and now looking for scapegoats. Vote because it matters. We need leaders that look out for the people and not the corporations and big oil.
Texas GOP is entirely responsible for the policies of deregulation and privatization that allowed ERCOT to let this entirely preventable tragedy from happening!
As Lt Governor, it is literally your job to know. The PUC (remember, the agency y'all seem to want to forget about) is the one that sets regulatory rules around the state. You remember the PUC, right? Since they are appointed by the Governor, I would think you would remember them. Maybe if you did YOUR JOB instead of spouting your garbage on social media and any TV and radio that would put you on air, you would have known.
Texans are strong, but they can not self-help themselves out of failure on this scale. Keeping us safe is literally what we pay you to do.
As Lt. Governor, it was your duty to know. Stop passing the blame and admit your mistake.
So many failures by so many people and this whole thing stinks to high heaven! Somewhere in here there was intentional negligence and Texans want accountability and correction
10 years ago, experts told you republicans Texas energy grid would not hold up in severe cold weather, y’all did nothing.
What difference does it make the suppliers couldn’t produce what was needed because their infrastructure was not sufficient Certain people like executives, consultants, board members, and attorneys took the money as paychecks and bonuses over the last 20 years instead of making proper investments. Where you been for the last 20 years?
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Dan Patrick
3 days ago
Great joining Harris Faulkner on her new program this morning. WATCH: bit.ly/3qV7jui ...
The Faulkner Focus - Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor
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Thank you Dan Patrick. We are blessed to have you here in Texas. God bless you and everything you do.
I watched and take issue with your comment that people took a gamble with market rate plans. I’m sure some people did, but I guarantee my 80 year old mom didn’t understand what it was. She just knew she had to lower her electric bills in order to manage the increases in insurance and rent. I didn’t even knew these plans existed so when she told me she found a cheaper electric company, I didn’t question it.
Lieutenant Dan always looks like he just ate a bug. Also, did you blame windmills again? Or is just more political theatre where you claim you're going to do something about the whole clusterfuck but ultimately just let it quietly go away at the first opportunity?
I don’t think he has a complete picture. Electric coops are also attempting to pass high cost to customers. We did Not sign up for open market prices. If the coop board did not get a fixed rate contract- it should be on them not us. We weren’t offered a choice
Help fix this mess! Texas doesn’t want a New Green Deal!! Open up that Pipe Line!
Texans deserve better than your idiocy, Patrick. Thanks for doing your part to flip Texas Blue. Vanity Fair: Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick Blames Constituents for Giant Electric Bills: “Read the Fine Print”. www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/02/dan-patrick-texas-electricity-bills
Texans Face Steep Energy Bills, Lack of Safe Water Due to a Chain of Decisions and Legislation Put in Place By 20+ Years of Republican Leadership... There, I fixed it. This is not a system failure, it's doing what it was designed to do so stop acting 1) surprised, 2) outraged, Dan Patrick, because you're not going to do anything meaningful to make it better or stop it from happening again.
Good grief, we know you're not going to penalize anyone, so just winterize and be done with it!! How pathetic... WINTERIZE, it's not rocket science!
So the same guy who said, "he feared that public health restrictions to prevent coronavirus could end American life as he knows it, and that he is willing to risk death to protect the economy for his grandchildren," now says that an electric bill for $17,000.00 is ok because, "If they had a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour, their rates aren’t going up…. But the people who are getting those big bills are people who gambled on a very, very low rate…going forward, people need to read the fine print in those kinds of bills.” What a guy!! What a guy...I say let's take the old people and the people with high bills and put them out on the water in barges. If they survive - fine. If not, oh well. Because if we want to follow through on Patrick's thinking then human beings haven't evolved at all - all of our American history is for naught - and the only way to live is the dog eat dog world of the caveman.
Do you ever appear on networks that don’t spread propaganda?
But $9.00 a kWh? Get real.
Softball questions from a friendly source.
Could the Federal Government provide federal releif to consumers for their unusual water and electric usage. They are able to help in other scenarios - if they can help pay for abortions, illegal citizens why can't they help Americans in uncommon situation.
Dan, you need to add to your self glorifying posts, information as to how many times you admire yourself in the mirror each day. You're message is lost.
Funny how you present this as if you aren't the center of the problem.
Fox "News" for your message somehow seems entirely appropriate.
You will do something about this mess just like you lowered our property taxes.
You blamed Wind Turbines freezing for the blackouts when they were a small portion of the power grid. The larger portion is fossil fuels which had multiple issues... Yet you were quiet on them.
How much are they paying you to squawk a bunch and do nothing??
Dan Patrick should be addressing texans, not national listeners. He always runs to his mother ship to say how perfect his actions are, instead of helping the people that elected him.
"Texas is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity. Cruz/ [Governor Greg] Abbott/ [Senator John] Cornyn want to make TX's failed energy policy the standard nationwide. Hope you don't like heat!"
Is that all you do is go on talk shows?
Our leaders failed us. Texas has its own grid. We are not a part of the national grid. We had 5 of our coal and natural gas plants freeze up. We know what caused this. Texas removed us from the national grid long long ago. We have an independent grid. There was an investigation done after the 2011 freeze when Mexico bailed us out by allowing us access to their electrical grid. Federal regulators advised us that our plants needed winter upgrades to prevent equipment from freezing and shutting down production. The Republican state leadership made the decision to send that into out to the electric companies as a suggestion. It should have been a REQUIRED state regulation. TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE This is what happens when you prioritize money over health and safety. There is a reason regulations exist. ONCE AGAIN TEXAS LEADERS FAILED US IN THEIR QUEST NOT TO REGULATE
If your message is on Fox, I'll never see it. I've turned then off FOREVER, no better than CNN or MSLSD.
If those commies to take and ban natural gas from homes, the uprising on the Capitol on January 6th may look miniscule!
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Dan Patrick
4 days ago
Another clip from Houston’s press conference yesterday: bit.ly/3pMV9lI ...
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick discusses recent winter storm, launching investigation
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Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick spoke strongly about the power outage debacle during a press conference in Sugar Land Monday morning.Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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It just amazes me how clueless you leaders act. We know we have 5 plants freeze up. Coal and natural gas plants. Furthermore we have been down this road before. We know what caused this. Texas removed us from the national grid long long ago. We have an independent grid. There was an investigation done after the 2011 freeze when Mexico bailed us out by allowing us access to their electrical grid. Federal regulators advised us that our plants needed winter upgrades to prevent equipment from freezing and shutting down production. The Republican state leadership made the decision to send that into out to the electric companies as a suggestion. It should have been a REQUIRED state regulation. TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE This is what happens when you prioritize money over health and safety. There is a reason regulations exist. ONCE AGAIN TEXAS LEADERS FAILED US IN THEIR QUEST NOT TO REGULATE
I appreciate the job you have done for the people of Texas. However, missing in your stated priorities is the glaring absence of curtailment of emergency powers of both the governor and local jurisdictions. The Governor's power to declare an emergency is limited by our Constitution to 48 hours for a reason and I did not see any evidence that the "emergency declaration" was ever renewed as required. There should be no action that allows the Governor or any elected official to unilaterally shut down the people and the economy. The Governor has destroyed many businesses and the livelihood, sweat equity and savings of many people. We have a legislature that represents the people and protects the common good and they should have been called into special session to determine the course of action needed. This must never happen again
We are going to investigate this problem until we get to the bottom of how long it takes for the public to forget about it so we can go back to business as usual!
These say you don't care about the serious issues that impact the lives of Texans! Senate Bill 4 – Star Spangled Banner Protection Act Senate Bill 26 – Protect Our Freedom to Worship Senate Bill 29 – Fair Sports for Women & Girls
Dan, you're already back in Houston, how many Delapadated Homes did you visit !
INVESTIGATE EVERY SINGLE CASE FACILITATED BY JUDGES TOM RICKHOFF AKA THE RIPOFF AND JUDGE OSCAR KAZEN IN SAN ANTONIO TEXAS PROBATE
Weird how there were no posts from you during the storm and power outage, but now you post all of your “speeches”? Please stop.
So, Texans looking for the best rate is gambling with their power bills? What kinda non sense is this. You hace gotten on the radar of the people and will be watched on your actions and called out regularly! People looking for the best rate on power is not gambling on their power bill! A power company that 20 years in advance knew they had to winterize everything and did not, is the problem. You and the other representatives of this great state that are covering for Ercot are the problem. The days of this kind of governance are over. #voteemout
Having out-of-state board members resign will not change the failed oversight by the Public Utility Commission or the lack of common sense policy by the Texas Legislature. ERCOT alone should not be made the scapegoat. The PUC oversees ERCOT, and the governor appoints all three commissioners. The resignations do not change the fact that the PUC and the Texas Legislature failed to provide oversight or enact common-sense policy. The 87th Texas Legislature needs to make the necessary changes to the oversight of our electric grid to prevent this type of disaster from happening in the future.
Texas leadership wasnt ready to meet the demands in a worse case scenario! Now fix the problem and Texans are not financially responsible fir this criminal blunder
Someone's planning a run for Gov, aren't ya, Danny boy!
I have very good risen don’t believe all this game . This problems supposed be fixed at first day and apology’s send to Citizens. Looking like they playing time game and this wrongdoings will be recognized as only way to continue business.
We don’t need an investigation , this was witnessed by Everyone . Soo just move on and have these Companies pay all damages to each person that lost power .End Of Story.
Three people from ERCOT have already resigned over this. (None of them were Texas residents.) Maybe you should do the same.
Investigation has been launched for several days. What is going on with the investigation?
Your values are NOT my values.
It was Governor Abbott who appointed the commoners that caused this fiasco!! He needs to take responsibility
This all starts with the Obama administration. He ordered the coal plants shut down. He ordered that Texas couldn't increase our own power until we first bought from outside sources at ridiculous prices. Governor Abbott asked several days ahead of the storm if he could increase the power and Joe Biden's department of energy blocked it.
Either the people of ERCOT know NOTHING about the power business or it is just an investment for them. Wither way i hope something will come out of the investigations to prevent this from happening again.
It's Ok Lt. ....we know you've been busy working on those VERY important bills-- like which bathroom we should use when in public, and the ability for teachers to say " merry christmas' or not, and don't forget Texas' secession work--you're doing the good work there Dan....you clown!! inept ex-radio jock and now full time Bozo. C'mon Texas-- vote Dan, and Greg, and Ken out of office. The Three Muskedouchebags!!
Get the federal government out of state affairs and allow generating plants to run at max to meet demand and problem solved.
Need action and no more discussion.
We would like to know the year each member was appointed..
Why should we trust Republicans to overhaul ERCOT? That's like the wolf guarding the chicken coop.
Now their going to investigate storms. W T *
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Dan Patrick
4 days ago
Also stopped in Midland yesterday to discuss how we plan to address the energy failure caused by winter storms last week. Here’s the link: bit.ly/37FmNed ...
Lt. Gov. says he plans to prioritize grid reform legislation, find solutions
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MIDLAND, Texas (Nexstar) – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited the Tall City on Monday to discuss issues that occurred last week during the winter storm across Texas. Specifically, the Lt. Governor addres…Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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And you are still a bad man. Literally every time I open my Facebook there you are... still being a very bad man. Again that should’ve been fixed 10 years ago. Shame on you and ERCOT.
Let me fix that for you... Also stopped in Midland yesterday to discuss how we plan to address the energy failure caused by our inaction ten years ago.
Here’s my plan, do away with the wind and solar, and open more natural gas and coal plants... heck just open the ones that have been closed for years. And we will have all the power we need even in the coldest times.
Words are important; was the energy failure caused by the winter storms or poor energy management decisions?
Pretty vague words spoken. I'd like to know what was said behind closed doors.
Anything short of joining the US grid and requiring energy companies fo adapt all their equipment for extreme weather is not a solution.
Work on cutting taxes while you are at it.
How about connecting us to the rest of the USA. then sell power outside Texas at 300% to fund continuous upgrades and keep costs in Texas down
You and the Texas government cause this with the independent grid, to ovoid federal regulations. And many people suffered and some died because of the freezing weather . Now you care? Texas government and ERCOT are the blame for this . Just to save a buck .
So, four cities in one day? Same speech? But I thought the investigation started yesterday-in Austin.
Get an energy plan that works. Just do it, no excuses. And join the rest of the states in the us. United we stand, divided we fall. We for sure failed with our energy system we have right now.
You are such a good man. Thank you for your work for Texans.
Need to get politics out of our grid. Wind and solar are not reliable. Stop subsidies to win and collar. Stop $1-$10,000 pricing on 1 MW per hour. Put a price on it and leave it. Just a totally messed up operation that is trying to destroy coal and gas by democrats
It should have never happened!! We need strong leadership, it's definitely not YOU!!
like you all solved property taxes? — GREAT! well all be sitting in the dark
You'll do everything except what needs to be done - - make it a public utility again. We pay more than every other state because we have to pay someone's profits. Which is also why they were so cheap and ran the system on a shoe string.
Caused by winter storms and republicans who FAILED TO REGULATE. We know what caused this. Texas removed us from the national grid long long ago. We have an independent grid. There was an investigation done after the 2011 freeze when Mexico bailed us out by allowing us access to their electrical grid. Federal regulators advised us that our plants needed winter upgrades to prevent equipment from freezing and shutting down production. The Republican state leadership made the decision to send that into out to the electric companies as a suggestion. It should have been a REQUIRED state regulation. TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE This is what happens when you prioritize money over health and safety. There is a reason regulations exist. ONCE AGAIN TEXAS LEADERS FAILED US IN THEIR QUEST NOT TO REGULATE
Wow...closing the barn door after the cattle has escaped. Brilliant.
Empty noise, no action. Imagine our great state of Texas going for day without power, water or basic necessities. Shame on Republicans. As for Ted Cruz, he will still abandon us whenever another disaster will strike us. God will help us.
At the end of the day, Patrick represents only the special interest groups that financed his campaign, but will diligently pretend he is doing otherwise.
NEWS FLASH...the energy failure was not caused by the weather.
I bet. We're planning a class action suit and the House of Representatives is going to investigate Ercot and you.
So while everyone else is in Austin actually working, you're just out campaigning and talking. Typical Dan Patrick. Absolutely useless for anything but sitting in front of a Fox news camera.
Less traveling, less talking, more work.
Biden did this to Texas. Come on man.
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Dan Patrick
4 days ago
I was in Lubbock yesterday afternoon for a news conference regarding the Texas power grid, recent storms and outages, ERCOT, and what we are going to do to fix the power problem. Click here to watch: bit.ly/3kh8yBx ...
WATCH: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick explains trouble with Texas power grid
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Lt. Governor Dan Patrick will be in Lubbock Monday afternoon to hold a news conference.Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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The problem is that your campaign donors decided to cut power during the storm to save a few pennies, then gouge the Texas population for power they weren't getting.
We need a state government that meets every year. This might have been considered important if we had a state government that actually worked each year to solve the challenges of the biggest state in the 48. It is time for Texas to step up and take care of ALL its residents.
I’m sure you will do your best Mr Patrick but as usual nothing will come of it. As for me I am getting a home generator. The State will not have the ability to turn off my power again.
The problem is piss-poor leadership in the formerly great state of Texas.
Don't connect us to the rest of the US grid.. what is needed is better management of said grid, because the 'rolling' blackouts were anything but!
You do know Lubbock is not part of the Grid in question, right? You do know in 2011 our state representatives voted NO on recommendations that would have avoided what just happened. Stop taking powder puff actions and photo ops and actually get it done.
You should have this stopped immediately nationalfile.com/texas-considers-letting-chinese-company-build-wind-farm-that-would-provide-power...
Criminal charges on ERCOT board members should be the first thing done. Then we need to get rid of every Texas politician currently in office and elect new competent people to office.
Nuclear energy is clean and reliable. Just don't build it at the coast.
Requests were made to Washington to approve the grid capacity to be increased to 100% and this was denied by our new government. The people who need their butts kicked are the people in Washington and ERCOT. Several of the board members resigned today. I find it interesting that several of the ERCOT board members were from outside the US.
Why don't you go back to Austin and do something, all your doing is burning fuel running your mouth. We need action, not lip flopping
The governor accepted 5 resignations from board members who were involved, or should I say uninvolved in the power situation here in Texas. None of these members were from Texas or lived here so that's a step up.
You are a bad man. This should have been fixed 10 years ago.
Lubbock isn't even part of ERCOT. Why would you go to a place where the failure didn't even happen? Try showing up in Austin sometime to explain your own inaction. Or are you afraid the reception might be a little chilly?
Us Texans didnt elect ercot!! We did not deserve or bargain for this!! Im sure we will remember next election
Why wasn’t it already fixed? You all knew since the 2011 report that the power grid infrastructure was in need of an overhaul. And yet you did nothing but talk and make money! How are we to believe you now?????
Why? Lubbock smartly decided to join a power grid that is regulated outside of the Texas grid. You are priceless in your total and complete worthlessness as an elected official.
How about fix the "GREED" problem!
Lubbock isn’t even currently under ERCOT
A man-made disaster from privitization and profits over people. Too cheap to winterize even after the 2011 freeze. So for a bit more profit Texans had to die and lose their property or pay outrageous electric bills..
I'm not paying more than I usually pay. I'm buying a generator and candles.
Don’t be trying to cover this up ,do something so this kind of thing is not to be tolerated IN TEXAS
People died because of the blackout!! People died because of incompetence. People died because pure negligence. Someone needs to be held responsible and prosecuted
Texas has its own grid. We are not a part of the national grid. We had 5 of our coal and natural gas plants freeze up. We know what caused this. Texas removed us from the national grid long long ago. We have an independent grid. There was an investigation done after the 2011 freeze when Mexico bailed us out by allowing us access to their electrical grid. Federal regulators advised us that our plants needed winter upgrades to prevent equipment from freezing and shutting down production. The Republican state leadership made the decision to send that into out to the electric companies as a suggestion. It should have been a REQUIRED state regulation. TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE This is what happens when you prioritize money over health and safety. There is a reason regulations exist. ONCE AGAIN TEXAS LEADERS FAILED US IN THEIR QUEST NOT TO REGULATE
West Texas needs to stop trying to join ERCOT until it can demonstrate responsible management. Not sure Dan Patrick is up to the task or reorganizing this mess...
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Dan Patrick
4 days ago
I spoke in Dallas on Monday about Texas’ winter storm response and how we’re going to fix the power grid issues to ensure outages are prevented in the future. ICYMI: bit.ly/3pH8wDW ...
Texas Lawmakers Begin Hearings This Week Into Statewide Power Outages
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Texas lawmakers will begin investigations this week in Austin into the power losses that occurred last week during a prolonged, bitterly cold winter storm, which Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) described as a Category 5 winter storm.Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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Make sure it never happens again! Turbines were value engineered out. Which is why they didn’t work like they can in cold climates! Value engineering out never works
No more money spent on Wind Turbines! Texas is an oil and gas state. Let’s keep it that way. Spend the money to upgrade the Texas Electric Grid. So that this never happens again! So sad that Texans lost their lives because some grids weren’t working. The Federal Government could care less about Texas!
Do NOT connect us to the rest of the US grid. We don't need it. We just need better management of our grid, because our rolling blackouts were anything but 'rolling'.. The management of our grid was awful and there should be an investigation into that.
Please start looking into sensible regulation in Texas. This disaster is a prime example of where having no regulation of anything ends up hurting average Texans. This goes beyond the electrical system.
Wind turbines and solar panels are 23% of Texas power grid. Since there is no maintenance done on them and they don't work in the winter weather-- natural gas and coal needs to be increased ASAP since they can be used year around. Also, keep China away from our power grid or all Texans will eventually be in a humanitarian crisis like we had last week. By the way--- WHERE was the Biden administration through all of this ???? ........
You are a bad man. It should have been done 10 years ago. I think you need to go live in Alaska somewhere without insulation or heat.
This is how ERCOT "prepared" for the winter blast in their February 9 report to the board meeting: "It is actually going to be winter here pretty soon. As those of you in Texas know, we do have a cold front coming this way. We’ll probably see our winter peak later this week or in the very early part of next week. And Operations has issued an operating condition notice just to make sure everyone is up to speed with their winterization and we’re ready for the several days of pretty frigid temperatures to come our way. So more on that in the next couple of days, but it does look like we’ll have a little bit of winter weather to contend with during the course of the rest of this week. We do have a cold front coming this way.” - Bill Magness, 40 seconds of fluff
Like Tucker Carlson said, running out of energy in Texas is like running out of food in the grocery store. It can only be done on our purpose .
Let’s hope that they can get this were we won’t be left at the curb. After all this is Texas and we take care of each other, go get em Dan!
Start by firing the head of ERCOT who lives in Michigan, I hear. Get rid of any and all members of the Board(?) that do not live in Texas and/or know nothing about energy and grids. Put engineers/ specialists in charge. Form a serious, knowledgeable group to look into the feasibility of both hardening and providing extreme weather protection to the grid. I believe our last similar extreme was in 1918, so a cost-benefit may be difficult. Hopefully, the technology is available.
We all know what happened: same thing that happened 10 years ago, but you guys didn't hold the power companies accountable for updating their systems to withstand winter weather. In other words, you weren't obeying public demand; you were obeying the power companies by looking the other way while they lined your pockets.
It's not just a matter of fixing the grid, it's fixing the attitudes that allowed it to remain unfixed in the first place... policies and attitudes need to be replaced not just equipment.
Rather late wouldn't you say? If you would have on the job and working. On this issue, none of this catastrophe would not have happen In the first placed. Texas rely on your responsibility to stay it never happen again. This is why they voted for you. But it seem you fail us on this one. Thousand left in the cold, and without water. There is no excuse for this damage done.
Return all of your oil and gas donated money.
Quit wasting money and time. You already know what the problem was and we should be part of the federal grid.
Green energy and green regulations F’ed us all over~ period!!!!
HEADS SHOULD ROLL, ESPECIALLY EVERYONE IN ERCOT
Hey Dan...you are a day late and a dollar short...You Politicians knew about this problem since 1989 and again in 2011....no maintenance causes sever problems....its going to cost you way more now to fix it...maybe even you job
Stop letting companies do whatever they please and join the rest of the nation’s grad?
Too late, you've spent all your time in office doing TV appearances and pushing the Trump agenda.
Woo wee. You blew this! Yeah it starts with Cruz but I didn't leave you out Dan. Okay, for the "leave Cruz alone, Why shouldn't he go on vacation, what could he even do, it's not his job to handle state stuff, he only handles federal stuff" repetitive crowd. Lets play a game! What could Ted and John do? Anybody see the guy Beto, who didn't get Ted's job, gathering and dispatching volunteers and resources without any state or federal money? Guess who's job it is to advocate between the state needs and federal resources? This was all Ted's job. And John's job. They arrange federal resources so Abbott can work for the State. You know who's job it is not to have to negotiate with the federal government and coordinate the state's resources at the same time, alone? Abbott and Patrick. Anybody see Patrick? Anybody know which members of this crew aren't tea party members? Abbott and John. Anyone know which one of these two doesn't attend trump fundraisers during major disasters because trump still controls the national RNC money for re election? Only Abbott. Anything? Anybody catching on yet?
I’ve got a good idea. Fire ERCOT!
We The PEOPLE OF TEXAS ARE AWARE ... BIDEN'S DOE .
Wind turbines work everywhere (ex: Antarctica) if the cold weather package is added. Texas didn't because of private companies not wanting to spend money on it. Profits over people. They also didn't winterize facilities handling the source of most of our energy ... over 80%... generated by fossil fuels. Public utilities must work in the coming extreme weather conditions we'll have more often due to climate change. Greed is why we lost power... and lives.... and property... and face.
Once he gets his oil/gas donations in a week they'll suddenly forget about the investigations. We need an independent group to do the investigating. This is like asking your 4 year old, covered in chocolate to investigate what happened to the cookies and figure out a way to prevent it from happening again.
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Dan PatrickFollow6,53996,263
Lieutenant Governor of Texas | A preeminent voice for principled conservative policies both in Texas and across the nation
Curt Morgan, CEO @VistraCorp, testimony in the power outage investigation hearing today could be the smoking gun. On Feb 9 his experts projected a 74K megawatt demand in the upcoming storm. ERCOT was projecting in the mid-60's. His team was right. ERCOT was wrong.
#ICYMI: The Senate Committee on Business and Commerce is meeting right now to investigate the statewide power outage last week. #txlege
Livestream —> https://senate.texas.gov/av-live.php
#ICYMI
#txlege
http://ow.ly/fSlc30rylIh