The blackouts that left much of Texas cold and thirsty have spawned their first lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed Friday in a Nueces County court at law in Corpus Christi alleges the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, manager of the state鈥檚 main electric grid, ignored repeated warnings of weaknesses in the state鈥檚 electric power infrastructure. A Dallas law firm鈥檚 statement says its lawsuit also accuses ERCOT and American Electric Power utility of causing property damage and business interruptions during this week鈥檚 cold wave.
鈥淭he resulting widespread property damage from blackouts was caused by their negligence and gross negligence. In addition, the disruptions rendered private property unusable and amounted to an illegal 鈥榯aking鈥� of private property by the government,鈥� said the law firm鈥檚 statement.
Also, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued civil investigative demands to ERCOT and electric utility companies, vowing 鈥渢o get to the bottom of this power failure.鈥� The investigation will cover power outages, emergency plans, energy pricing and more related to the winter storm.
鈥淭he large-scale failure of Texas power companies to withstand the winter storm left multiple millions of Texans without power and heat during lethal, record-low temperatures across the state,鈥� said a statement from Paxton鈥檚 office.