Patrick Excoriates Paddie and PUC
for Bailing Out Winners from Freeze

Capitol Inside
September 30, 2021

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick accused the Public Utility Commission on Thursday of ignoring the Texas Senate's intent on a $2 billion bailout for the electricity industry from losses suffered during an epic winter storm that caused the state's power grid to fail for several days in February.

But Patrick saved his sharpest criticism for State Rep. Chris Paddie - a Marshall Republican who sponsored a package of reforms for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas in a compromise with Patrick and the Senate in the regular session this year. The lieutenant governor said Paddie had misinformed the PUC about the Legislature's motive in the passage of House Bill 4492.

Patrick contended that Paddie told the PUC that the legislation did not provide for the process of netting - which would restrict the bill's pool of beneficiaries to companies that suffered substantial losses during the Texas freeze and blackouts. Patrick raised the specter that Paddie had sold out to the industry as a lawmaker who could be seeking new employment after announcing that he won't seek re-election in 2022.

While Patrick didn't mention Governor Greg Abbott in an email assessment on a PUC vote today on the state-subsidized funding, he reminded the PUC's four members that the price of his wrath can be steep despite the fact that he doesn't control the executive branch.

“After the winter storm, I called for the resignation of members of the PUC," Patrick said. "They all resigned. I can assure you that the new commissioners’ Senate confirmation hearings would not have gone as smoothly if senators knew they intended to disregard the will of the Senate."

Abbott selected the PUC's current members after Patrick demanded and received resignations from the governor's four previous appointees to the commission that regulates the electric market. The governor did not attempt to defend the commissioners who Patrick and Senate allies called out after the ice storm.

Patrick has wielded unprecedented power at the statehouse in Austin this year - having designed the conservative agenda that he pushed through in regular and special session with little or no resistance from the House. Patrick has surpassed the traditional bounds of protocol as a legislative officer who took over an executive agency for all practical purposes. He called Paddie " disingenuous throughout the legislative process and after" in connection with HB 4492.

"After passage of the bill, Rep. Paddie wrongly told the PUC the legislative intent of the bill did not include netting, despite on the record evidence during the passage of the bill to the contrary," the lieutenant governor added. "Now, his motivations have been exposed as he prepares to leave the legislature and may be seeking a highly compensated position in the same electric industry that stands to benefit from his position of no netting and no transparency. Rep. Paddie has forfeited his credibility with my office and with many members of the Texas Senate."

more to come ...