The Potential for A New Era at the Texas PUC

It’s the end of a tumultuous two years at the Public Utility Commission — and hopefully the beginning of a very different era. The Governor’s office announced last week the appointment of Commissioner Kathleen Jackson as interim Chair of the PUC; an announcement of a longer-term Chair will likely come later this year.

The new PUC leadership needs to quickly establish a more participatory and collaborative approach — for both stakeholders and the public at large. This means listening to the public, significantly improving opportunities for input, and convening stakeholders in ways that create compromise and lasting change.

Stakeholders are ready for change

For two years, stakeholders have been at each other’s throats — far more than is typical at the commission. First and foremost, a new Chair must openly acknowledge that no one solution will fix the problems with Texas’ grid. The PUCT and ERCOT will have to do dozens of things well; that demands active participation from a broad group of stakeholders. 

Finding the right mix of solutions requires more collaborative leadership. That’s not easy — it’s quite hard — but it’s been done. In the late ‘90s and early aughts, PUCT Chairs Pat Wood, Becky Klein, and Barry Smitherman all had tenures characterized by collaboration with the Legislature, stakeholders, and the public. People involved in energy policy back then admit that they never got everything they wanted, but they got a lot of it. The other side didn’t get everything either, and there were more resolutions where everyone won.

Wood, Klein, and Smitherman didn’t start with a solution, but rather with a problem statement. From there, they worked with the broadest cross section of interests and the public, distilling promising solutions into a system that worked. 

Since then, the agency has been run far less collaboratively…