Texas Governor Abbott, At Fault on High Electric Prices - Ex-ERCOT CEO

Texas Governor Greg Abbott was blamed for the high electric prices during the winter storm that hampered the state last year.

Former President and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Bill Magness accused the governor when he testified on the court on Wednesday, Gizmodo reported.

According to Forbes, Magness testified on the court in connection to the bankruptcy trial of Waco-based Brazos Electric Cooperative that challenged a $1.9 billion in costs it incurred during the crisis that forced the cooperative into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Ex-ERCOT CEO Blames Texas Gov. Abbott for High Electric Prices

It can be recalled that after the winter storm in Texas last year, millions of Texans were left without heat for days. The end of the storm also exposed underlying problems within the state's electric grid.

Reports noted that the power prices in the state were capped at around $9,000 per megawatt-hour, during the final days of the storm in mid-February.

Magness then underscored that the high pelectric prices came after an attempt from the former Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman DeAnn Walker conveying Governor Abbott's wish, Insider highlighted per Yahoo! News.

"She [Walker] told me that the governor had conveyed to her if we emerged from rotating outages it was imperative, they not resume... We needed to do what it needed to do to make it happen," Bill Magness said.

Magness added that the move of the former PUC chairman also urged power plants to keep big power users, like industrial facilities, offline to conserve powers from emergency reserves, per Gizmodo.

Aside from Magness, the former PUC chairman, DeAnn Walker, also took to stand on the trial earlier today.

Walker confirmed parts of Magness' testimony on the court, claiming that the Texas governor instructed her to report to ERCOT's headquarters in Taylor and "figure out a way to get the power back on to all the customers and to not go back into rolling outages," per Forbes.

Walker also said that the move of keeping the prices at around $9,000 during that time was an "independent decision" that she made.

Criticism flowed after the Magness and Walker testified on the court.

Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke, Governor Abbot's opponent in the upcoming gubernatorial elections, blasted the state official in a series of tweets for what he allegedly did.

"Abbot screwed us. He'll continue to screw us until we vote him out," O'Rourke said in one of his tweets, as he quoted a tweet from the Houston Chronicle reporting what Magness said during the trial.

Gov. Abbott on Claims of the Ex-ERCOT CEO

On Wednesday, Governor Greg Abbott's camp retaliated on the claims that the former ERCOT CEO slammed against him Wednesday.

According to the Texas governor's campaign spokesman, Mark Miner, said that Abbott had "no hand" in setting the high electric prices during last year's winter storm, NBC 5 reported.

However, another spokesperson for Abbott, which was not named by the Houston Chronicle, acknowledged that the Texas governor instructed "everyone involved" to do what was needed in keeping the power on during that time "to prevent the loss of life,' Gizmodo noted.

"This is the same instruction Governor Abbott gave to the PUC and ERCOT earlier this year [during a cold snap]. Do what needs to be done to keep the power on," the spokesperson added.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: ERCOT Kept Prices High After Gov. Abbott's Direction: Magness - From FOX 7 Austin