PUC proposes potential financial audit of ERCOT

During Wednesday's meeting, the Public Utility Commission of Texas said they are working to find out who is at fault for last month's power outages.

AUSTIN, Texas - The Public Utility Commission of Texas, which regulates utilities in Texas, said they're working to find out who is at fault for last month's massive power outages.

In a meeting Wednesday morning, the PUC acknowledged the stress the last two weeks has had on Texans. "This agency is full of people who are working around the clock to get to the bottom of what happened two weeks ago," said chairman Arthur D'Andrea.

During the meeting, the commission also proposed the idea of working with the Texas legislature and the auditor's office on an audit into the finances at ERCOT.

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Public Utility Commission chair DeAnn Walker resigns over role in power crisis

Gov. Abbott appointed Walker to the commission in 2017. At least six ERCOT board members have resigned since the widespread power failures.

"That we can have a third party that is trusted by the legislature and this department go in and figure out where the money went and make sure if any money is owed to repairs, it gets back in their pockets," D'Andrea said.

This is the first meeting since former chairman Deann Walker resigned on Monday. This comes after criticism of her role in the aftermath of the winter storm.

On Wednesday, Governor Greg Abbott appointed D'Andrea chair of the Commission. He has served as a commissioner since 2017. Both he and Commissioner Shelley Botkin were appointed by Governor Abbott.

Also brought up during the meeting was that the commission previously told representatives to stop billing customers until meters were able to read correctly. Wednesday, they said they believe meters are now correct and billing can resume back to normal.

"I think that if they are right, if that is true, we should encourage the reps to resume billing and late fees that we had suspended," D'Andrea said.

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Discussions continue on the Lone Star State's current energy system. Energy experts and leaders recently met to discuss the history and future of Texas energy. David Spence with the University of Texas talks about what was discussed.

Commissioner Botkin ended the meeting reiterating the fact that so much is being done behind the scenes hopefully talking about it can bring clarity to community members.

"We recognize this has been a time of tremendous suffering for a lot of people," she said. "I'm more of an 'actions speak louder than words' type of person, but I know for normal consumers watching our meetings, it's hard to understand what we’re doing and it’s not very visible, so I think talking plainly about what we’re doing and our efforts to help customers I think will help everybody."

There is another open meeting on Friday.