WEBVTT 00:00:00.540 --> 00:00:06.940 Thank you for your patience. 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:08.371 Everybody. We're ready. 00:00:08.395 --> 00:00:09.679 Okay. Good evening. This 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.419 is Callie Ferrar, Commission Secretary. I'll be serving 00:00:12.419 --> 00:00:15.470 as the meeting moderator for this evening. Due to weather 00:00:15.470 --> 00:00:18.179 conditions and limitations of electronic access, the 00:00:18.179 --> 00:00:20.690 Commissioners will be meeting by phone communication 00:00:20.690 --> 00:00:23.839 only today. Commission does reserve the right to remove 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:26.890 any audio sharing capabilities from any person at any 00:00:26.890 --> 00:00:30.953 time if needed. Chairman Craddick, feel free to take over. 00:00:30.977 --> 00:00:32.229 Thank 00:00:32.229 --> 00:00:34.500 you, Callie. And thank you all for being here tonight. 00:00:34.509 --> 00:00:37.020 This is Chairman Craddick. This meeting of the Railroad 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:40.299 Commission of Texas will come to order to consider 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:43.060 matters which have been duly posted with the Secretary 00:00:43.060 --> 00:00:49.460 of State for February 17, 2021, under section 551.045 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:52.659 of the Texas Government Code. 00:00:52.939 --> 00:00:56.390 There is one item on this agenda. Let's go to item 00:00:56.390 --> 00:00:59.039 number one, Mark. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.140 Good evening, Chairman and Commissioners. For the record 00:01:02.250 --> 00:01:04.709 I'm Mark Everetts Director of the Market Oversight 00:01:04.709 --> 00:01:08.379 section of the Oversight and Safety Division. As you 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:11.359 are aware, the winter weather event impacting the state 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:16.019 of Texas is ongoing and continues to be extreme. The 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:19.329 Governor State of Disaster Declaration issued on February 00:01:19.329 --> 00:01:23.790 12, 2021, is still in place. Commission staff continues 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:26.530 to be in contact with the natural gas utilities and 00:01:26.530 --> 00:01:29.359 pipelines subject to the Commission's jurisdiction 00:01:29.739 --> 00:01:33.750 to ensure adequate gas supply and capacity is available 00:01:33.750 --> 00:01:38.280 to protect the citizens of our state. Commission staff 00:01:38.290 --> 00:01:41.040 has also remained in contact with the Public Utilities 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:46.030 Commission of Texas and ERCOT due to the ongoing nature 00:01:46.030 --> 00:01:48.769 of the weather event and its impact on both the natural 00:01:48.769 --> 00:01:52.219 gas and electric industries. Commission staff recommends 00:01:52.230 --> 00:01:55.269 that the Commission extend the emergency order entered 00:01:55.280 --> 00:02:00.000 on February 12, 2021, to remain in place 00:02:00.010 --> 00:02:05.040 through Tuesday, February 23, 2021, unless otherwise 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.080 amended by the Commission in a subsequent order. I'm 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.539 available to answer any questions. 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:13.849 Thank you, Mark. And would you please state your name, 00:02:13.860 --> 00:02:16.740 full name, for the record. You and I both know 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:20.400 who you are, but just for the record, please. 00:02:20.409 --> 00:02:23.080 Mark Everetts, director of the Market Oversight section 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:24.747 of the Oversight and Safety division. 00:02:24.771 --> 00:02:26.340 Thank you. Just 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:28.759 want it on the record. All right. Are there any questions? 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:34.289 Alright, I move. We approved the staff's recommendation 00:02:34.289 --> 00:02:36.016 Is there a second? 00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:38.948 Second Commissioner Wright 00:02:38.972 --> 00:02:39.639 Second 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:41.860 by Commissioner Wright. Thank you, Commissioner. All 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:48.139 in favor say aye. Motion passes. That item is approved. 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:50.909 Thank you, gentlemen. And thank you, Mark, for 00:02:50.909 --> 00:02:54.560 your work. Yes, and I just want one, just second. 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:57.656 Did you have any comment about this? 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:58.750 No. I just had 00:02:58.750 --> 00:03:00.760 something more to say before we go. 00:03:00.784 --> 00:03:02.270 Okay. All right 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:05.060 I was just gonna say one more thing. 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:09.229 Just as a heads up at 3:23 this afternoon, I 00:03:09.229 --> 00:03:12.629 received a letter from Governor Abbott requesting our 00:03:12.629 --> 00:03:16.669 assistance in keeping Texas gas in Texas. Our staff 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:20.490 is currently reviewing the letter. So I wanted 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:23.069 to make sure everybody was aware of that. And sorry, 00:03:23.069 --> 00:03:25.680 Commissioner, you had a comment as well. 00:03:25.704 --> 00:03:26.770 Yes. This 00:03:26.770 --> 00:03:28.910 is a Commissioner Christian and just-- 00:03:28.934 --> 00:03:29.469 I'm sorry. I 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:32.300 can't tell anybody's voice on the phone anymore. 00:03:32.310 --> 00:03:39.050 Hey. Like, hey, like many Texans, I'm standing 00:03:39.050 --> 00:03:43.099 right now in my house in three layers of coats, I've been 00:03:43.099 --> 00:03:47.629 without water lights and heat since Sunday night 00:03:47.629 --> 00:03:50.930 at 11 o'clock. I'm going on soon 36 hours. So I'm 00:03:50.930 --> 00:03:55.009 feeling the pain of all this, and I just want 00:03:55.009 --> 00:03:58.030 to say they're a statement real quickly, that I think 00:03:58.030 --> 00:04:00.680 we as a Commissioner, I should say. There is no single 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:04.310 reason we're in this mess we're now in. It's a multifaceted 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.719 perfect storm. In coming weeks, there's going to 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:10.280 be a lot of debate on the best way to ensure this 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:14.210 never happens again going forward. Take away from this 00:04:14.210 --> 00:04:17.529 storm should not be the future of fossil fuels, but 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:21.970 the dangers of subsidizing and mandating intermittent, 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:25.889 unreliable forms of energy at the expense of using 00:04:25.889 --> 00:04:29.410 our resources to make the grid more resilient to extreme 00:04:29.410 --> 00:04:32.759 weather events. I applaud Governor Abbott in ERCOT 00:04:32.769 --> 00:04:36.240 reform an emergency item this legislative session. 00:04:36.250 --> 00:04:39.610 I'm thankful the Speaker Phalen and Lieutenant Governor 00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:42.209 Patrick had quickly called for legislative hearings 00:04:42.209 --> 00:04:45.680 on this matter as well. We must ensure this never happens 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:49.000 again. This order we are passing tonight extends our 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.790 emergency actions from last Friday and ensures gas 00:04:51.790 --> 00:04:55.439 continues to prioritize toward residential gas and 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.990 electric generation for residential use. This is essential 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:02.399 because if customers lose natural gas service, there's 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:06.300 a huge time lag in restoring that gas service because 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:09.779 the gas utility companies must go out to each individual 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:13.160 customers home, turn off the meter, do a leak check 00:05:13.170 --> 00:05:16.339 and relight. It could take weeks to bring the gas system 00:05:16.339 --> 00:05:20.560 back online for this electric restoration is much quicker. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:23.839 I just wanted to assure the public that our agency 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:26.680 is doing everything and God bless all the workers across 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.589 the state that we and every other emergency and city 00:05:29.589 --> 00:05:32.970 and residential, electric and gas company is doing 00:05:32.970 --> 00:05:36.399 right now 24-7. But we want to let them know that 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:39.579 our Railroad Commission and our folks we're proud of 00:05:39.589 --> 00:05:42.620 are trying to serve Texas families during this difficult 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:44.719 time. This is my statement. 00:05:44.743 --> 00:05:47.149 Thank you. I appreciate 00:05:47.149 --> 00:05:49.680 it. And I want to add to that one. Our staff has 00:05:49.689 --> 00:05:54.220 done a great job for the last several days. I think 00:05:54.230 --> 00:05:58.449 it is trying to manage and and make sure that we're 00:05:58.449 --> 00:06:01.689 on track and having lots of good communication as well. 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:05.560 And I'll just say that the oil and gas industry is 00:06:05.569 --> 00:06:07.839 finally getting some power into these fields. I've 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:11.009 just gotten a text message here while we've been sitting 00:06:11.009 --> 00:06:14.500 here that the Delaware Basin getting 00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:17.040 back online and gas is starting to move out of it. 00:06:17.050 --> 00:06:21.379 So we're going to resolve the energy industry. 00:06:21.389 --> 00:06:24.000 The oil and gas industry is going to resolve the power 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.970 crisis relatively quickly, but I think I've been in 00:06:26.970 --> 00:06:30.529 the cold too. I think. I don't know if Jim has 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:32.970 to, but I've not had power either. 00:06:32.970 --> 00:06:35.689 And so I think it's been a difficult time for a lot 00:06:35.689 --> 00:06:38.850 of families. And I appreciate our staff's work 00:06:38.850 --> 00:06:42.139 and all of our work to try to keep moving us forward 00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:43.718 and get out of this crisis today. 00:06:43.742 --> 00:06:46.089 I couldn't 00:06:46.100 --> 00:06:48.740 agree with you, Commissioner Christian, more. This is 00:06:48.740 --> 00:06:52.189 Jim, and I just have one thing to add. Thank God for 00:06:52.189 --> 00:06:55.149 Coleman lanterns, because that's what I was using the 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:56.114 past three days. 00:06:56.138 --> 00:07:00.850 Okay, Jim, I've got a golf cart heater 00:07:00.850 --> 00:07:03.699 I'm not supposed to be using in my house. It keeps one bathroom 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:04.540 semi-warm. 00:07:04.564 --> 00:07:08.290 Okay, look, I don't want to hear about any 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:14.000 problems from you two. I just was on television 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.839 reminding people about carbon monoxide. Can we just 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:21.714 not. I would really appreciate it. I need y'all sitting here. 00:07:21.738 --> 00:07:23.649 Thank 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:26.259 you to our staff too. Thank you guys for all the hours 00:07:26.259 --> 00:07:28.730 you've been putting in. I really appreciate that. And 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:30.600 we'll get through it. 00:07:30.624 --> 00:07:33.480 Well, we've got 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:35.879 some good folks, so I appreciate it. Is there anything 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:40.540 else that we need to talk about this evening? 00:07:40.540 --> 00:07:43.120 All right. Hearing none. This meeting of the Railroad 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:46.050 Commission is adjourned. Thank you all. Stay safe and 00:07:46.050 --> 00:07:49.160 stay warm. Thank you, guys. Thank you.