A recent report from a polling firm shows that most Texans want investments to make the state's electricity grid more reliable. This comes after the deadly winter power outages last year, which caused energy bills to go up for most people.
The survey was done by the progressive research group Data for Progress at the beginning of September. It found that immigration and the reliability of the grid are two of the most important social and economic issues for Texas voters.
The effects of Winter Storm Uri are still being felt, and a majority of voters polled across all political lines said that state leaders did not do enough to protect them from higher prices caused by the storm.
In a poll of about 700 likely voters, nearly seven in ten Texans said that their home energy bills are also higher than they were a year ago. The survey was done in English and Spanish, and people could answer by text message or web page.
Danielle Deiseroth, the lead climate strategist at Data for Progress, wrote in the report that higher home energy bills hurt the quality of life of Texans. She also said that higher energy bills have led to changes in behaviour.
About 60% of the people who answered the survey said they have cut back on fun things to do. Nearly 50% of the people who answered the survey said they now use less air conditioning and less lights at home. In the survey, some of the things people did for fun were going out to eat, travelling, and going to the movies.
30% of respondents said they cut back on things like food and prescriptions, and 19% said they switched political parties during midterm elections.
Some survey participants blamed President Joe Biden, Gov. Greg Abbott, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or other electricity companies for higher home energy prices. After people were reminded that the Texas electric grid is not regulated by the federal government, more blamed Abbott and ERCOT, which runs the Texas grid, instead of Biden.
The effects of Winter Storm Uri are still being felt, and a majority of voters polled across all political lines said that state leaders did not do enough to protect them from higher prices caused by the storm.
In a poll of about 700 likely voters, nearly seven in ten Texans said that their home energy bills are also higher than they were a year ago. The survey was done in English and Spanish, and people could answer by text message or web page.
Danielle Deiseroth, the lead climate strategist at Data for Progress, wrote in the report that higher home energy bills hurt the quality of life of Texans. She also said that higher energy bills have led to changes in behaviour.
About 60% of those who answered said they have cut back on fun things to do, and almost half of those who answered said they now use less air conditioning and less lights at home. Some of the things people did for fun in the survey were going out to eat, travelling, and going to the movies.
30% of respondents said they spent less on necessities like food and prescriptions, and 19% said they switched political parties during midterm elections.
People who took the survey had different ideas about who was to blame for higher home energy costs. Some blamed President Joe Biden, Gov. Greg Abbott, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or other energy companies. After reminding people that the Texas electric grid is not regulated by the federal government, more blamed Abbott and ERCOT, which runs the Texas grid, instead of Biden.
But most people agreed that state leaders aren't doing enough to help them prepare for climate change and other extreme weather events. Almost 90% of Democrats who were asked said their state leaders are not doing enough.
"Winter Storm Uri left an indelible mark on the minds of Texans, who no longer have faith that the grid will work reliably," Deiseroth wrote.
The freeze in February 2021 caused power outages all over the state, and more than 200 Texans died because of the extreme cold and the blackouts.
"Texans want their leaders to prioritise fixing the power grid because problems with grid reliability and high energy prices have a big effect on their lives," the strategist wrote.
Brent Bennett, the policy director for the energy institute Life:Powered at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said that the state's grid wasn't ready for the storm because there weren't enough resources. He said that the market "was telling investors to put more money into wind and solar" at the time. TPPF is a conservative think tank that is not for profit and is based in Austin.
Bennett said of the grid's capacity during the winter storm, "It's not their fault. It's not like the generators didn't work right or something." "It's just that there weren't enough resources."
When asked about ways to make the grid more reliable, survey respondents supported a wide range of investments, such as upgrading electric transmission lines, making energy use more efficient, and using more new energy technologies.
Also, about 64% of those who answered said they would agree with paying consumers during times of high energy demand to get them to use less energy.
Almost two-thirds of those who answered also said they thought energy companies should be subject to stricter rules in order to keep prices low and reliability high. In Texas, the Public Utility Commission is in charge of running the state's electricity programmes, including ERCOT.
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