Texas’ power grid manager fired following devastating power outages

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News)-  The CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has been ousted.  The ERCOT board voted Wednesday night to fire Bill Magness., just hours after a congressional panel launched an investigation into the deadly power outages that left millions of Texans in the dark with no heat during the winter storm last month.

Magness was given a 60-day termination notice and a search for his replacement was to begin immediately.  He’ll continue to serve as ERCOT President and CEO during the transition period.

Last week, Magness was grilled by state senators who accused ERCOT of being unprepared for the freezing temperatures that were predicted well ahead of the winter storm.  Utility companies, including CPS Energy, were forced to implement power outages to prevent the entire state grid from collapsing.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tweeted Wednesday night, “2 days ago, I called on ERCOT and PUC leaders to resign. Good news — now they are both gone.  Next — one of my top 31 priorities — reforming ERCOT and fixing what went wrong.”

Several ERCOT board members have already resigned.  The former chair of the Public Utility Commission, DeAnn Walker, resigned Monday.  The PUC oversees ERCOT.