Lawmakers tasked the Public Utility Commission with overseeing the Texas Energy Fund, though the agency has no experience running a loan program.

Gov. Greg Abbott is holding a news conference on Wednesday morning ahead of the hard freeze that’s expected to hit Texas on Thursday afternoon.

The state plans to use past weather data to craft rules for power plant upgrades. Scientists warn that the accelerating effects of climate change make relying on old data alone insufficient.

The final gavel has sounded on the 87th Texas Legislature, marking both the end to an eventful session and the beginning for numerous laws set to be enacted across the Lone Star State.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday named Peter Lake the new chair of the Texas Public Utility Commission, the public board that regulates the state’s power grid operators and saw all three of its members resign in the wake of February’s deadly winter storm.

Dan Patrick and marked the first major schism between the two chambers this legislative session. “The Texas Senate stood for individuals, and I’m proud of you,” Patrick told senators. “The House stood for big business.”ERCOT is a nonprofit entity that manages the power grid and controls the prices power generators charge to retail electric providers, such as power companies and city utilities. Outgoing ERCOT CEO Bill Magness and PUC Chair Arthur D’Andrea say the cap was necessary to incentivize generators to send power to the grid. Still, the rift emerging between the House and Senate marks the most visible difference yet between the two chambers, which have largely avoided open conflict this session until now.

Senate Bill 2142, sponsored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, had not even been filed when the day started Monday — and the full Senate hadn’t been scheduled to convene. But the bill was quickly read on the Senate floor and referred to the Senate Jurisprudence Committee for a hearing on Monday morning. PUC and ERCOT leaders say the prices were intentionally left high to incentivize generators to send power during widespread outages. The PUC’s sole serving member, Arthur D’Andrea, told the state Senate last week that he does not have the authority to retroactively adjust prices. The other two spots on the PUC are vacant because their prior occupants resigned after the winter storm.

Many residents experienced power outages due to the winter storm that rolled through Texas. (Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune)Public Utility Commissioner Shelly Botkin has resigned in the aftermath of the deadly Texas winter weather crisis that left millions of people without power. Botkin's exit comes a week after the chairwoman of the commission, DeAnn Walker, submitted her resignation under pressure from Lt. Gov. With Botkin's resignation, the commission is now down to just one member. Walker testified in front of lawmakers before resigning and D'Andrea spoke publicly about issues over the power outages after being elevated to commission chair.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas will have an open meeting on Friday morning to discuss the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and other topics related to electricity and water following last month’s deadly winter storm. The PUC meeting is scheduled to take place at 9:30 a.m. According to PUC, the meeting will touch on electric reliability, the electric market development, ERCOT oversight, cost recovery in areas outside of ERCOT, and electric reliability standards and organizations arising under federal law. According to Potomac Economics, an independent market monitor for the PUC, ERCOT kept the price of power too high after the outages ended. His outrage has not extended to the state’s PUC, which oversees ERCOT and is led by Abbott appointees.

(Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune)After hearing reports of some Texans receiving massive electrical bills, the state’s utility regulator said it’s investigating companies that offer their customers rates that fluctuate based on the spot price of wholesale electricity. The Public Utility Commission of Texas on Wednesday announced the probe into what are known as indexed retail electric providers. Griddy passes wholesale electricity rates directly to customers, who in turn pay the company $10 a month. The utility commission on Sunday temporarily barred Texas electric providers from cutting power to residents who don’t — or can’t — pay and from sending out bills. AdThe announcement Wednesday is the latest in a flurry of investigations into the events that caused widespread power outages and left millions without running water.