-: I wanna do it just 'cause I won't
maybe have another chance.
(gavel pounding)
Welcome everybody.
Today, we're here to have a public hearing for project
number 51841, which relates to emergency service,
or Emergency Operation Planning.
My name is David Smeltzer.
I'm the Director of Rules and Projects.
The sort of sequence of events today is,
our Director of Enforcement and project team lead on this,
English Barksdale, Barksdale English will give us
a brief introduction to the rulemaking package
that we're discussing.
Then we will take any testimony from anyone
who's here in person, and then we'll go to the phone lines.
I think that the number of people that are signed up
is smaller than anticipated,
so we can do four or five minutes or, per person.
So I'm fine with that.
Barksdale.
-: Good morning, everybody.
I'm Barksdale English on behalf of Commission staff,
and we are here to discuss the proposal for publication
of the repeal and replacement
of Texas Administrative Code 25.53,
which relates to emergency operations plans.
The fact that it's a repeal and replacement might sound like
there's lots of wholesale changes in the rule,
but largely the substantive requirements of the rule
are identical to what they are today.
It's mostly just a reorganization of the requirements
so that we can start getting everybody's
emergency operations plans into a format that makes it
consistent across the industry.
As you may be aware, in this last legislative session,
the Legislature and Governor adopted Senate Bill 3.
One of the requirements of that is that every biennium,
or every even numbered year, the Leg, the Commission
has to provide a report to the legislature
on the preparedness of the electric utility industry
to withstand emergencies on the grid, and to do that,
we need to review the emergency operations plans
of each utility in the state.
This, we believe, is going to be the first of two steps
in which first, we are starting to lay out a format
of how we would like to see these plans relying on the way
FEMA sets up their emergency operations plans
and how state and local governments also start to organize
their plans by having a structure that is understandable
across different kinds of emergency responders.
So not only will this help the Commission review
the 850 or so plans that we're going to need to review
at least once every other year, but it also makes sure
that those plans are easily understandable,
and that it's easier to communicate across different lines
of government because we'll all be using
the same kind of language.
I will be here to answer substantive questions as needed,
but David will be running the meeting.
Thanks very much for being here.
-: Thanks Barksdale.
So I know from speaking from some of
the interested commenters,
some of you have experience with legislative hearings.
I think for the purpose of just clarifying process,
I'll say that unlike a Commission open meeting
or a legislative hearing, I think there are
specific requirements under the Texas government code
that we have to meet today in addition to hearing
your comments and what those are is with every rulemaking,
the Commission has to list off all interested persons
who want to comment on the rule.
We have to list their name and their position on the rule,
and then we also later, when we adopt the final rule,
we will have to summarize comments that are made
and put a response whether or not the Commission
agrees or disagrees, and so the reason I'm clarifying this
is because if you see me tinkering away or doing things
up here, it's because we have sort of checklist of things
that we're taking care of and also so that
we can accomplish this task, it's important that everyone
sort of state their name clearly in a way that we'll be able
to memorialize in text later.
So it's for instance, people on the line,
if your name might be spelled in a way that's not intuitive,
you can help us with that, it would be great,
and also if you would like your comments
to be considered as part of an organization,
rather than as individual comments,
let us know that at the start.
Another thing that would be helpful in summarizing
the comments would be is if there are specific suggestions
that you have on how the rules should be changed,
sort of state those plainly at some part so that we know
that we are fully capturing your intent and, you know,
considering the changes appropriately.
So with that, I guess, let's get started.
The first person signed up is Carol.
Carol: I'll stay as far away from everybody as I can.
I'll be over here.
-: That's all right, and Carol B. as you're known,
but I'll let you handle the pronunciation.
I haven't learned it.
-: Sorry, oh yes.
My name is Carol Biedrzycki.
I am the former executive director of Texas Ratepayers
Organization to Save Energy, so I've spent some time
here around the Commission.
I've been retired for the last, almost the last three years,
and I have become a member of what is called
the Durable Medical Equipment Power task force,
and I have worked with Texas Legal Services Center
to prepare comments on this rule.
So a more or less a technical testifier more than someone
who experienced the kinds of problems
that we're bringing to light here.
I am a customer of Austin Energy and I was without power
for about four days and I was miserable,
but there are people throughout Texas who are dependent
on electricity for medical purposes and their lives
were threatened every minute of the outage,
and there were a lot of experiences that they had
that were something that nobody should need,
nobody should have to go through.
So I'm happy that TLSC, Texas Legal Services Center
was able to participate in this project because I feel like
we're bringing a problem to the Commission's attention
that needs to be addressed within
the emergency operations plans, and that's why
we are proposing that the rule that you have put forth
to be amended to include an annex that is dedicated
to making sure that there are safety measures
and emergency services for people who are critical care
and chronic condition customers at our utilities.
I have a couple of things that I wanted to bring up.
One is the definition of emergency.
In reviewing the comments filed by the other parties,
I was rather surprised at the amount of attention
that was placed on the definition of emergency,
and it seems to be that the industry comments want
to make it more difficult to declare the emer,
to put the plans in effect, and so I would like to state
that we support the staff definition
because it's more flexible and that there are times
when maybe there will be a smaller scale emergency,
which is just as serious
for individual customers on the system.
There were also a lot of comments that
this whole rulemaking is so disruptive of
the current emergency operations planning process,
and I have to say that that's a really good thing
because what is in place right now certainly didn't work
in favor of any customers, whether they're dependent
on medical equipment or not.
So I would just like to say that what's happening now,
the status quo, failed miserably and so I think
it's a good thing if things are being shaken up a lot,
because I think that a massive change is in order
because we had a massive problem, and then the third item,
and one that's really important to those who are dependent,
medically dependent on electricity, is the confidentiality
of critical load customer information.
There was a lot of discussion about this
in the comments as well, and I felt like they were all
kind of like moving in the wrong direction.
I mean, this is a time when we would like to see
some measures put in place so that information
can be exchanged if it's for the good of the customer,
and I know that I started to get into this issue earlier
because somebody who works with emergency management
came to me and talked about the fact that during
the emergency in Houston that they contacted utilities,
trying to get information about critical care customers
so that they could go and knock on doors.
They had volunteers ready to do that and that they were told
that they couldn't provide the information
because it was confidential.
Well, okay, I get that and I will respect that,
but we should be able to work something out
in these plans to overcome that hurdle if we know
that there are people who need help, and there are
other people who want to get to them.
I mean, this is, I think it's not a simple situation
to address, but it's one that should be addressed
because we need to be as like, helpful as possible
when things start to go awry, and then the last thing
is that I would like to see the Commission do something
to maybe hold a couple meetings or workshops so that
all the parties can talk about these things together,
because I think that we can all learn from each other,
and this is a classic situation where we learn
from each other and we sit down and we try to work out
some steps that can be taken that
are in everybody's best interests, and that's all I have.
Does any, if anybody has any questions
about the testimony, I'll be happy to, the comments,
I'll be happy to answer them.
David: Okay, thank you, Carol.
Carol: All right.
-: Next, next person signed up is Amy Litzinger.
-: Thank you for this opportunity to speak today.
I am Amy Litzinger and I am from northwest Austin,
speaking for myself, although I do work for a nonprofit
that is represented here today.
As you can see, I have quadriplegic condition
and use a power wheelchair, plus other large devices
such as an electric Hoyer lift to get in and out of bed.
What you may not know is that dependent services in Texas
for people like me only cover helping people in the daytime,
not when you are in bed.
If an electrical outage or other emergency begins
in the night, there is nobody coming to assist you.
You can't go get to warmer clothes,
medicines, food, or water.
You are stuck without help until someone can come by.
Not only that, but in Texas, there is 150,000 person
waiting list to receive attendant services,
which takes you well into adulthood before receiving them.
So if you think it's okay to take power away
from a person like me, who cannot care for myself,
it's actually rather serious, not nearly as serious
as those who will stop breathing if they lose electricity,
but it's still very serious.
I was lucky in this past storm
because my parents are still alive.
Their average age is over 70.
Some people without relatives had nobody to rescue them.
So when their phones or other communication devices
ran down and their chairs stopped, they became stuck,
and one person that I know of died from this.
These people without family need
to be considered as serious.
During Uri, we were also without water for four days.
To summarize, we need a process where the power companies
will differentiate which addresses seriously
need electricity and to always keep
their electricity turned on.
I've been told that the technology already exists
to do this, so please make a policy to serve
these addresses during outages.
Thank you for your time today.
May I answer any questions?
-: No, thank you.
Thank you for your testimony, Ms. Litzinger.
Amy: Do you need copies?
Matt: Will we need a copy?
David: Sure, yeah, Matt can,
Matt can take one for you.
Thank you.
Amy: Just slide it in the back.
Matt: Just in the backpack?
Amy: Yeah.
Thank you.
-: The next person signed up to speak is Linda Litzinger.
-: Thank you.
Can you hear me double masked, or should I take it off?
Matt: It's a health issue, so it's your decision.
David: And I hate to tell anyone to take them off.
-: All right, sorry for the position here.
Good morning. Thank you for allowing me to speak today.
My name is Linda Litzinger and I'm
with Texas Parent to Parent.
We are a Statewide cross-disability nonprofit
serving 14,000 families across Texas, many who have children
born with significant disability
or special healthcare needs.
One is coming, who is just now parking.
Today, I'd like to talk about fragile children and adults.
They're born to families anywhere in Texas,
both metro and rural.
Sometimes a family will have more than one child
who was born to be medically complex.
One family I know has adopted four children
who are complex and critical.
Sometimes one child in a family is in the hospital
accompanied by one parent, and the other parent
is caring for the remaining children at home.
Imagine multiple children at an address vying for
the last of the stored power when every child living there
is labeled with a hospital level of care.
Parents become well-versed in treatments,
the necessary machinery, the ups and downs
of their child's care.
They see a fine line between when things are humming along
versus situations that are quite frightening.
This could easily be triggered by an inability
to provide a ventilator, to be able to suction,
or to keep someone cool in the summertime
to prevent continuous seizures.
Losing that balance, mixed with terrible weather,
could be life-threatening.
Imagine realizing that your child cannot breathe
in your home, the ERs are too filled with COVID
for your child to be near them, so you set out for a hotel
that you've prepaid for, found that they have electricity
and prepaid, thinking one tank of gas would concurrently
keep your child breathing, keep your phone charged,
and get you there, but the traffic becomes so slow
that the gas pumps are inoperable,
and the gas pumps are inoperable, so that
you're continuously Googling the nearest hospital
and gauging if you have enough gas to reach it.
Suddenly things are just as scary as remaining
in your home was, if not more.
In the last few decades, it has become more prevalent
that people of any age live at home while using,
while being this complex.
So here's our recommendation.
A household with a critical need
for uninterrupted electricity knows who they are.
Please believe them and provide them
with uninterrupted power, even when the rest
of the neighborhood is dark.
Thank you, may I answer any questions?
Do you want a copy of this, David?
David: Sure, if you'll, Matt.
Matt will come get one for you.
-: Okay, Matt, do you need one or two?
Matt: One should be good, thank you.
-: Okay.
-: Is there anyone else in person who would like
to provide testimony who is not
on the signup sheet I have here?
Linda: When that family gets inside, they can.
-: If people come after the phone testimony,
they can, they can join.
(paper rustling)
Yeah, take the list.
Ellen Bowman.
Ellen: Yes.
Any place?
-: Wherever you're comfortable.
-: Good morning.
My name is Ellen Bowman.
I live in Joshua, Texas.
I am here representing The Arc of Dallas-Fort Worth area.
I'm also the grandmother of a 29 1/2 year old young woman
who does live with me, and I'm her primary caregiver.
She has, she was born with a condition
called Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome.
At that time, there were only 100 cases of it known
in the United States, and so I don't find many people
who know what that is, so quick history.
She has IDD.
She has also autism and a few other things.
She's legally blind in one eye.
So she requires around the clock care.
The, when Uri happened and I'm sorry, I'm out of breath.
I've just hiked about three blocks.
David: That's okay.
-: But we were fortunate in that we did not lose electricity.
Our provider is Reliant and of course
they're the retailer for TXU in our area.
The disaster that happened at our house was due to the power
of being shut off to the water companies that provide water
for all the residents and businesses in the city of Joshua
and in Godley, another small town just south of Fort Worth,
we were without water for eight days.
Kayla's care requires a minimum of two baths a day.
She's not an individual who has mastered
a use of the toilet yet.
Her primary functions happen in the bathtub.
So fortunately we have a big support group,
family, friends network.
Many of them have trucks.
So every day somebody managed to get out on the ice
and bring us a lot of water.
Five gallon buckets, coolers,
whatever they could bring water in,
and because we did have electricity, I was still able
to heat water on the stove in large pots
and fill up the bathtub a few times a day
and keep her hygiene as normal as possible,
and then keep our environment as clean as possible as well.
Because she lives with me and I'm there
as her support person, it was okay with her,
but there were other people that I'm sure
who did not have that type of support, and they're the ones
I'm speaking for today primarily, because in addition
to needing some means of communication and access to people
with disabilities because of their loss of power
and their need for it for their DMEs,
we also have people with other issues such as Kayla's
and that issue, that hygiene issue all also comes
with behavior issues when those needs are not met in a way
that she's familiar with and comfortable with.
So not only do we need to try to make sure
that those people have electricity, we've got to make sure
that the water company still has electricity so that
they can provide for basic human needs and just having
the availability of running water.
That's basically, I'm sure everybody else has addressed
the need for electricity, but when we,
we need to be inclusive of the other utilities
that are dependent on electricity too to support
this population, and I appreciate you
hearing me this morning.
David: Thank you for making the trek out here.
Is there anyone else in person who would like to,
was that a wave of interest?
Attendee: No, I was waving to Ellen.
-: Oh, okay.
Not all about me, I get it.
(crowd laughing)
Okay, if there's no one else in person, I guess,
do we have anyone on the line?
Operator: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen on the line.
If you would like to make a public comment,
please press one, then zero at this time.
Our first public comment is from Rachel Lau.
Please go ahead.
Rachel: Good morning.
My name is Rachel Lau.
I'm a staff attorney at the Medical Legal Partnership
at Texas Legal Services Centers.
We work in tandem with People's Community Clinic
and Texas Health Action, two clinics
serving the central Texas area.
The communities we serve are historically underrepresented
and particularly vulnerable to disparities
in utilities and housing.
Historically and particularly in Austin,
the law has been used to create inequity
in a way that affects health, utilities, and housing,
our key social determinants of health that affect
a wide range of health, functioning,
and quality of life, outcomes, and risks.
As early as the Reconstruction era, Austin has used
city planning, including utility restrictions,
to actually further residential segregation.
The state needs to recognize how law has been used
to create inequity in a way that affects health
and the state should strive to include health
in all policies, a collaborative approach to integrate
and articulate health considerations into policy making.
One of the main issues is current utilities regulation,
prioritizes circuits with hospitals on them,
and that means that historically oppressed populations
are primed for disparate impact in a weather crisis.
So while it's reasonable that blackouts are based
on the infrastructure of each circuit, the prioritization
of electricity relies on the geography of a hospital system,
which is steeped in racial politics.
This means that even though the electricity outages
and rolling blackouts during the winter storm
were fairly based on the infrastructure on each circuit,
the prioritization of electricity relied again
on the hospital system steeped in racial politics,
and this system itself was built on segregation
enforced by race-based utility access.
So specifically we're proposing that the state adopt
health and all policies, again, a collaborative approach
that integrates and articulates health consideration
in policymaking, and while natural disasters
may be unavoidable, the state's current and future response
should be structured to proactively review connections
to pass state action and to ensure health is considered
and incorporated into policymaking to improve the lives
of all communities and people.
Thank you for your time today.
David: Thank you for your comments.
Operator: Our next public comment is from Laura Taylor.
Please go ahead.
Laura: Can you all hear me?
David: Yes, ma'am.
Laura: Okay.
My name is Laura Taylor from Katy, Texas.
I'm a customer of Centerpoint Energy
and my retail electric provider is Sparks.
I serve as a council member of the Texas Council
for Developmental Disabilities and am a member
of the Durable Medical Equipment task force.
I am the mother and primary caregiver of a 40 year old
severely disabled and medically fragile daughter
who is listed on your critical care residential care status
and is on the state of Texas emergency assistance registry.
I am asking you to make a plan to be able to meet
the power needs of families like mine who depend
on electricity to sustain life as clearly this did not exist
during winter storm Uri and many lives were lost.
The rule under consideration should include
a required section specifically devoted
to emergency assistance to residential customers
medically dependent on electricity.
My daughter Julie has a life-threatening seizure condition
which is exacerbated by extreme temperature changes.
Because she has had asthma
and has had pneumonia multiple times,
she is on a full regimen of breathing treatments.
Multiple times a day, we use a nebulizer
to dispense medication, a cough assist machine,
which is similar to a BiPap, a suction machine
to constantly clear her airway, and an oxygen concentrator.
She's fed through a feeding tube.
She is non-ambulatory and she requires 24/7 care.
During the winter storm Uri,
we were without power for 52 hours.
This resulted in a pipe bursting
in Julie's handicapped bathroom.
So we were without water in the entire house for five days.
She was unable to be in her accessible bedroom or bathroom
for over a month while repairs were being made.
I cannot begin to express in words the terror that
we experienced because of the lack of power.
During those 52 hours, we were frantically trying
to keep Julie warm and perform her breathing treatments
the best that we could.
Two of her breathing machines have car chargers,
but the charge was simply not the same as being plugged in,
and having my 67 year old husband going back and forth
over icy sidewalks in the middle of the night
created another level of trauma.
We were in constant fear that those machines
would stop working all together and leave us stranded.
Keep in mind that we were in the middle of the pandemic
and all of the roads were icy.
Most of the hospitals were flooded with dialysis patients
and the few hotels that had power were already filled.
I did call 211 and the Centerpoint emergency line,
but was told there was nothing that they could do.
Again, I am asking that the rule under consideration
include a required section specifically devoted
to providing emergency assistance to residential customers
who are medically dependent on electricity.
This is simply a matter of life and death.
Thank you for your time and your consideration.
David: Thank you.
Operator: Our next public comment is Adrian Trigg.
Please go ahead.
Adrian: Hello, yes.
My name is Adrian Trigg and I am in Austin, Texas.
I am testifying on behalf of
Texas Medical Equipment Providers and for myself
as a parent to a medically fragile child.
I just want to concur in support the initial comment
of Texas Legal Services Center and Disability Rights
that was filed for rulemaking
on January 4th of 2020 in their recommendation,
Texas Medical Equipment Providers support,
and as we are the boots on the ground
during these emergencies and we are the ones that provide
and support these electrical devices and services
and equipment beyond the electrical equipment,
we would be the ones that we would hope to work together
with the utilities Commission, any of the first responders,
or the emergency management groups.
So we want to offer those services on behalf of
the durable medical equipment providers.
My story is personal as well.
I am in Austin.
I use the Austin Utilities and while I had power,
we did run out of water for five days
for my medically dependent child that requires 24 hours care
in hospital level of care, and while we were without water,
I happened to collect rain water and have other sources
of water that I had to boil as he is paralyzed completely
in his mobility for digestion and for any of
his gastrointestinal tract is paralyzed.
That requires he has fresh clean water every day
to force mobility in his system, so we had
to boil his water every day.
It was an all day process to just keep him at baseline,
to keep him healthy.
We were without his medically compounded
pharmacy medicine that's delivered weekly,
so we had ran out of that because we didn't have any way
to get that delivered to us.
While we had power, we did have to rely on propane
to boil his water and to get that clean.
So there was not anyone that had reached out to us
other than our DME and our pharmacy that could not reach us,
but we do hope that the comments made
by Texas Legal Services and the Governor's Council
be strongly considered as those recommendations
that we do support.
So that's all for my testimony.
Thank you.
David: Thank you.
Operator: Our next public comment comes from Mark Gowen.
Please go ahead.
Mark: Yes, hi, thank you.
This is Mark Gowen, born and raised and live in Katy, Texas.
I'm a customer of Reliant Energy.
I'm also CFO of Angel Medical Supply.
We're a provider of respiratory equipment,
specializing in ventilators and oxygen.
I'm treasurer of Texas Medical
Equipment Providers, or TexMEP.
We're the non-profit state association
that operates in Texas.
I'm also here in support of the comments filed by
the Texas Legal Services Center regarding
the emergency operations plans rule.
Like Adrian just said, the DME providers,
we are the boots on the ground prior to the storms,
during the storms, and even after the storms.
The DME companies are not only expected, we're not asked,
but we're expected to provide the extra equipment,
extra supplies, extra batteries, and many cases,
all of the new equipment and all of this extra supplies,
and I'm putting quotes up, all of this
is applied for free because Medicare and Medicaid
does not reimburse for this stuff.
I submitted a written testimony the other day,
and I know it was past the deadline, but I hope
the Commission will accept it because there
was a little bit of confusion, plus 75% of my staff,
including myself, have COVID.
So I hope you guys will accept it and read it.
It kind of summarizes what my company went through
during the freeze and many other companies went through.
We had many patients that we went above and beyond
delivering free equipment, free batteries,
free backup batteries.
We all did, I mean, I know Angel Medical provided
over 36 free backup batteries
for ventilators, oxygen concentrators.
I know Adrian's company, Apple,
provided free concentrators, cylinders.
We all did this out of the goodness of our heart
because we care about our patients
and all of this done without being reimbursed.
So we're asking the Utility Commission,
and I know we've addressed the need for electricity.
With Carol, Linda, and Ellen we've addressed
the needs for electricity, but we haven't addressed the need
for backup power, which I think some of
the comments have addressed, and we all know Texas
can do better protecting the lives
of our medical fragile children,
and the backup power will help this.
So I think the filing with the PUC is a good start,
and those are my comments.
Thank you.
David: Thank you, sir, and staff will of course
read your written comments as well.
Mark: Thank you, sir.
Operator: Our next public comment is Stephanie Duke.
Please go ahead.
Stephanie: Hello, can you hear me?
David: Yes, ma'am, loud and clear.
Stephanie: All right, hi.
My name is Stephanie Duke and I'm an attorney
with Disability Rights Texas.
I'm also working with the DME Power Dependent task force
that has been mentioned.
In conjunction with written comments that we filed
with the Legal Service Center, I am here today
to highlight the obligation to account the needs and risks
of the disability community in disasters and emergency.
These proposed rules relevant to emergency operations plans
provides a continued opportunity to protect lives
and ensure continuity of adequate electric service
in response to the emergency.
However, to protect each life, specifically
our most vulnerable, their needs and risks
must be identified, acknowledged and prioritized.
Every disaster emergency is unique
to an individual and family.
However, their experiences confirm that without
inclusive planning in blue sky or steady-state time,
our most vulnerable continue to suffer the consequences
because there is denied or unreasonably delayed access
to services and supports.
Every disaster emergency, whether nationally declared
or not, impacts the environment and community differently,
not because each disaster emergency discriminates
against individuals in a community, but rather how
the community is set up to respond to such events.
Disasters or the events themselves do not discriminate.
The event merely exacerbates
inequalities which already exist.
Failure to integrate the needs
of individuals with disabilities into emergency planning
or inclusively plans denies them equitable recovery
and even the opportunity to build resiliency
in preparing for such events, and inclusive planning
means planning beforehand with the appropriate people
or entities at the table to discuss, collaborate,
and identify the needs so inclusive planning mitigates
the harm and is how equitable opportunities in
disaster emergency response are found.
Utility has provided critical community life plan
as one component of a multifaceted complex discipline
within emergency management.
The proposed rule is being discussed today
and developing an sustaining emergency operation plan
for an all hazards approach are essential
because they outline operational questions
from a variety of incidents, yet without acknowledging
and identifying the risks for the most vulnerable people
you serve during these types of incidents,
operational plans will fail to provide
to the entire community.
Utility providers play a crucial role in helping us
provide a coordinated response for their communities
in their greatest time of need.
Thus, the emergency operation plans and utility providers
in conjunction with how they will maintain
a continuity of operations, but also address the steps
that utility providers will take to manage the impact
that has sustained losses are likely
to trigger within our community.
The proposed rules mention critical customers,
but there's no delineation to those integrated
into the community or those registered
as a residential critical care
or chronic condition customer, nor do the proposed rules
address how wellness checks will occur for those identified
as medically fragile during a sustained power outage.
Continuity of power for those that rely on equipment
for life-sustaining measures is just that, life and death.
Continuity of power and plan for accessing
alternative power sources also safeguard individuals
integrated into the community
from unnecessarily institutionalization,
thus the importance and reliance of this critical lifeline
for those that are power dependent must be acknowledged.
When the infrastructure is destroyed
or services are uncertain, a collaborative, inclusive
planning process can ensure the whole community
has planned for and will subsequently support
a disaster survivors recovery.
Today the Commission has an opportunity to take steps
in the right direction and acknowledge the role
of utility providers both as an entity themselves
that provides a critical community lifeline
as well as the utilities' provider role among other entities
involved in staff response and recovery measures.
Inclusive planning in blue sky or steady-state times
is necessary to identify the needs and prepare
a full community response, and each emergency operation plan
must recognize and afford this opportunity.
Thank you.
David: Thank you.
Operator: Is there any additional public comment,
please press one zero at this time.
Laura Lehman, please go ahead.
Laura: Hi, thank you for taking my call.
I don't have anything prepared as well as others.
I just heard the last speaker and I can echo
what I just heard from her.
I am a parent of a child who is
medically complex and disabled.
My son requires 24/7 nursing care, oxygen 24/7.
He uses various medical equipment.
He requires three times a day nebulizer treatments.
He has a PICC line, meaning that he gets
all of his nutrition through his arm,
no longer can sustain anything in his guts
and he also has, which requires him to have pumps in order
to get his TPN and lipids.
Our experience last winter was not as dire as the majority
of people who live a similar lifestyle as us,
but we were only, we only lost power for a couple hours.
However, in the couple hours, it was extremely dramatic here
where we were trying to figure out if we had enough
oxygen tanks for him to maintain,
how we were going to hook all of his equipment up.
I mean, he has a pulse oximeter, he has cough assist.
He has a chest percussion machine
and I'm just walking through the house,
looking at all his things.
All of those things, we kept trying to figure out how,
what we could power off of our car,
which was pretty ridiculous, and I figured out that we had,
you know, a certain number of hours of oxygen
available to us, but what would we do after that?
Taking him into a hospital or sorry, a hotel room,
which some folks were doing around us
in the north Texas area, where it was hit pretty hard
with power outages for a very long period of time,
we could not just do that.
Also, given COVID, that's a whole 'nother issue,
but getting him to a hospital was another concern of ours.
I will say that since that time, it,
I went through the process of getting him a generator.
However, to get everything approved through Medicaid
and get estimates and so forth,
that took an eight month process.
It should not take that long, but it did,
and I'm thinking that if power is going to be an issue
coming up soon for a lot of people who live
the same lifestyle as us, as I mentioned,
getting a generator is difficult, just getting through
the process and probably a number of people
don't even realize that they can try to get access to that.
So power is important of course, for everyone,
but having a child who is 16 years old, medically complex,
it's even more important so that we can make sure
that he can continue breathing.
It is seriously a matter of life and death.
Thank you so much for taking my call.
David: Thank you.
Operator: Public comment from Greta James.
Please go ahead.
Greta: Hello, my name is Greta.
David: Ms. James, could you speak up please?
We're having a difficult time hearing you.
Greta: Can you hear me?
David: I'll try and.
Let's try it one more time.
Greta: Can you hear me.
David: Yes, I can hear you a little bit.
Greta: Oh really, okay.
Let me turn up my volume.
Hi, my name is Greta.
Can you hear me?
Is that better?
David: Let me see if I can,
let me see if I can do something on our end.
Okay, try again.
Greta: Hi, this is Greta.
Can you hear me well?
David: Perfect.
Greta: Oh, good, okay.
Hi, I live here in the Austin area, right here in the middle
of the city, and I have a son who is now 22 years old
and he has autism and I realize it is not what
we generally think of as a medically fragile situation
or one that is dependent on electricity.
Maybe many people would think that from the outside,
but many families that have children or adults with autism
or other behaviorally manifested conditions.
We all know that some of the routines that we set
can be very important.
There are hygiene concerns.
Earlier, a grandma talked about those hygiene concerns
and just the calming, the being able to play a game
or watch a movie or take a bath,
all of those things can be extremely helpful
under the conditions that we saw during the storm.
I have an elderly husband that actually had to go out
and forage for wood in our neighborhood,
looking for anything that we could burn,
and of course, you know, fire burns things very quickly,
and so my elderly husband, he's over 70 years old,
was out there, you know, just every day looking
for more fuel, and, you know, I shudder to think
if I were a single parent, a widowed parent,
how me and my son would have gotten through that storm,
and the fact that, you know, my son stayed relatively calm
was a small miracle, but I don't, it's not something
that I think that we could count on in the future,
and I just, I know that story turned out differently
for many parents and families that kind of fit
our description and have a similar set of circumstances.
So thank you for listening to me and I hope that the rules
are adopted particularly for
our medically fragile population, but also please
don't forget about all of the other types of complications
that people like my son could have,
and they are truly could be life-threatening.
You know, our kids are fragile too.
Thank you.
David: Thank you.
Operator: If there any additional public comment,
please press one and zero at this time,
There are no further public comments.
David: Thank you, and I believe we've have
at least one additional person who would like
to provide in-person comment.
I presume, Mrs. Doggett, Miss Doggett.
Any chair with a microphone will.
Valerie: Say what?
-: I said any chair with a microphone,
wherever you're comfortable.
-: Hello, I'm Valerie Doggett,
and this is my daughter Alison.
She's 20 years old and has bilateral periventricular
nodular heterotopia, microcephaly with simplified gyri,
lissencephaly, seizure disorder, asthma, renal nephrasia,
tracheomalacia, and broncheomalacia.
Alison is on a ventilator, O2, a suction machine,
a vest machine, a cough assist, nebulizer, hospital bed,
along with other supplies and equipment.
The first day of the storm, our electric flickered and,
it flickered on and off.
It would be on for an hour and then be off
for two or three hours.
During this time, we had all of our equipment plugged in.
Because the weather changed, Alison needed 24 hour
vent support as well as 24 hour oxygen and 24 hour nursing.
We were kept, keeping her warm by using multiple blankets.
On the second day, our power went out and stayed out.
We didn't panic at first.
After four hours with no power, our house was freezing.
We couldn't read her O2 sensors.
Suction machine was dying and vent was on the backup battery
that wouldn't last much longer.
We called all over San Antonio for a hotel,
but they either didn't have power or were sold out.
The nearest hotel with a room was in College Station.
We had no choice, we had to take it.
Her batteries were almost dead.
Luckily for us, some of her equipment
could be charged in my car.
We tried to get to College Station, but as I got to Austin,
I-35 got shut down.
We had to turn around to head back to San Antonio.
We got stuck on I-35 for over eight hours.
Cars were wrecking all over the place,
semi trucks were jackknifed right in front of us.
We were worried about getting hit.
We had oxygen tanks in our car.
We were fortunate that we had a full tank of gas
so we could stay warm at least.
After eight hours, we started to move
because the sun came out and TxDOT workers were helping.
We were in contact with her nurses.
One of her nurses had power and said we could come over.
My daughter and I went to her house
and my husband went to our home.
He slept under several blankets.
I called again to find a room here in San Antonio,
I was able to locate one and the hotel charge
had been double the rate because of the weather.
Taking Alison to an ER was not an option.
COVID would be life-threatening
to Alison with her condition.
We're trying to keep her from crowds of people.
We would have to sit in a waiting room,
which would not be beneficial.
We stayed in the hotel for three days.
We never received a text, email, or call from CPS
letting us know the power was restored.
We had to pay over $150 a day for a hotel.
We were also charged for the hotel in College Station,
even though we never made it.
With Alison's medical issues, she can not
regulate her body temperature.
We keep our house at 70 all year round.
If power goes out in the summer, we have to use
cooling vests and ice packs to keep her cool.
This is just not conducive for an extended period of time.
In the summer, her bills run around $400 to $600 a month
from July to October.
There's been several summers that I've had to pay
the higher than normal bills over several months.
We need to get a generator, but they are expensive.
We are on the state program, but it only covers so much.
How do we choose between meds, therapy, supplies,
or getting a generator?
We're at a loss, no matter what we do.
Thank you for letting me share my story with you.
David: Thank you for sharing.
Is there anyone else present or on the line
who would like to provide testimony on this rulemaking?
Operator: If you'd like further public comment
on the phone, please press one and zero.
There are no further public comments on the line.
-: Thank you.
I want to thank everyone for coming out today.
You know, I've worked at the Commission for almost a decade,
and this is my first time sitting behind the dais
and it's an honor to do it on an issue that's so
critically important to so many people.
Commission staff and the Commissioners who are watching
do take this seriously.
The broad, video broadcast today is available
on Texasadmin.org for anyone who wants to go
watch the playback, and as I said, all of the comments today
will be considered along with the written comments
that were filed in this docket and summarized
and responded to upon adoption of the final rule,
and I'll also note that this is, you know, but one rule
in a larger rule-making effort.
We've worked on, I think probably about over
half a dozen rules already that we've adopted
trying to improve the post-Uri situation,
and we have half a dozen or a dozen more.
So everything from weatherization to load shed,
to critical load designations, customer protections,
emergency operation plans.
We are, as a Commission, we're taking these things
as serious as possible, and I want to thank you guys
for sharing some of your personal stories.
I think that helps clarify the stakes
and sort of keeps your eye on the ball about why
we need to get this stuff right, and so I thank you
for the concrete suggestions.
Thank you for the stories, and I thank you for coming today.
If there's, yes.
Carol: Yeah, David, I have a question.
I'll come up here to the table to ask it,
make sure everything's on the record.
-: Sure.
Carol: You mentioned that there were several rulemakings
that would take place and I think that for this group
and for myself, I could use a little clarification.
I more or less look at this rulemaking as the outline
for a plan and sort of like establishing,
we would like to trying to establish a placeholder
for these kinds of issues and that actual standards
would be set up in, I think it's 51888.
Is that a correct, is my picture of this correct or?
-: So we, you know, we have
differing responsibilities as staff.
So I'll say that I, we'll be working on 51888,
and so that will likely incorporate topics
of all the different types of critical load and, you know,
we're still mapping this stuff out as we go,
but, you know, different types of critical load
and different types of load shed that are done
by the utilities, so that's one component,
and I know that several of the people that testified today
were interested in subjects such as the order
in which the utilities cut power or whether or not
they go feeder by feeder or home by home, et cetera.
Those topics will, it could be covered in both.
I think, Barksdale, do you have any
additional comments on like the scope of this rulemaking
as currently conceived by staff?
-: Thanks for your question, Carol.
So I think you're right to consider that
the emergency operations plan rulemaking
is about identifying those things that we expect
the utilities to be thinking about in
their unique service territories
with their unique customer bases.
It would be probably a Herculean task to try to identify
the specific steps that each of those entities have to take,
and probably that kind of regulation wouldn't get it right
and if we were to get it right once,
we probably wouldn't be right again in the future
as technologies change and needs changes.
So the suggestions about, how are utilities thinking
about working with community partners to make sure
that the most vulnerable of our population are being
considered and attended to during these emergencies,
I think those are very compelling requests
for this rulemaking to describe specific actions
that any utility has to take, and when I say utility,
I mean, TDUs, reps, muni's, co-ops,
you know, the whole gamut.
I don't know if that's appropriate here or not.
It's something that the project team will have to consider.
-: And so, yeah, that's why I wanted to clarify
that we've got a whole.
Carol: Still clear as mud, I'm sorry.
-: No, you're right, and you know, this is a,
it's a complicated puzzle of different roles
that we're trying to figure out how to make them
all connect properly, and we'll continue to consider.
If we have to consider these issues with each rulemaking,
we're happy to do it and, you know, staff will make
its recommendation and ultimately it's up to
the Commissioners to decide, so to a certain extent,
everything Barksdale and I say is tentative at best,
but we're trying to address as many applicable issues
with each rule as we can.
Carol: All right, and then the, this was a proposal
for publication and it's a term that
I've never seen used before.
Usually it's, you know, a proposed rule
or a proposal for adoption, and so I'm a little bit confused
because there was no, there were no reply comments
that were suggested in the publication so.
-: So that's correct.
The term proposal for publication is sort of a nomenclature
that our particular agency uses that legally is fulfilling
the requirement under the APA to provide a notice
of proposed rule changes, and so that's why there
was a red line of the rule, or in this case,
it was a repeal and replace, and the,
it's up to the discretion of each agency
whether or not to request reply comments.
I think we have statutory deadlines with regards
to reports on emergency operation plans
that we had to sort of work backwards from
to establish a timeline.
So in this instance, we, there was not time
to allow for sufficient reply comments, but, you know,
the hearing was sort of an opportunity for,
to respond to the written comments,
and so, as Barksdale said, we have, you know,
this is probably phase one of this rule where we might,
you know, we'll return to these rules if we need to
to get them right.
We're just, we have robust statutory deadlines across
a whole number of things that we're working towards,
and so this is, we're trying to provide as much process
with each rule making as we can.
Carol: Okay, thank you.
I just want to make sure that I'm not missing anything
because I know that procedures are important
in these matters and like I said,
the terminology was something that I wasn't familiar with.
I Googled it a number of times and I looked for it
and I couldn't figure out the, you know, what it was.
So thank you for explaining that.
-: Sure, and for any who are interested,
I think that the PUC's website on the bottom left-hand side,
there's a rulemaking process.
So it's like rulemaking process overview,
and that link sort of goes to a concise one-pager
that will show how we define our process
and where you see the terms are and how to proceed.
So if that's helpful to know.
Also as the director of rules, Carol,
you know how to get a hold of me,
but anyone you can reach out.
David.smelzer@puc.Texas.gov or our contact information
is on the website, and people will know how to find me
or any of the project team members.
So if you have questions, keep calling us
and we will get them answered.
Are there any other questions or comments or ways
in which we may be of service today?
All right, with that, I want to thank everyone again
for coming, and I've never been responsible for
a AT&T line before, so I don't know if we need to,
if the op is, is the operator still on?
Operator: I'm here, yes.
I can close out the call, thank you.
-: Thank you, thank you for your assistance today.
Operator: Oh, you're welcome.
Ladies and gentlemen,
that does conclude your conference for today.
Thank you for your participation and for using
AT&T event conferencing service.
You may now disconnect,
and we're now in a separate host line
if you had any questions for me.