Texas Court Rules Against High Winter Storm Power Prices.

A Texas appeals court has ruled that the Public Utility Commission exceeded its authority when it allowed wholesale electricity prices to soar to $9,000 per megawatt-hour during the winter storm in February 2021. The court ruled that the regulator of the state’s power grid, the Public Utility Commission, exceeded its authority and violated Texas law when it ordered the price of electricity pinned to a $9,000 per megawatt-hour cap during the crisis. The lawsuit from Vistra Energy subsidiary Luminant challenged two PUC orders made on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16, 2021, after the state came to the brink of a collapse of the ERCOT power grid.