Here’s a quick recap of what happened over the last week:
CenterPoint Rate Case Continues
An administrative law judge this week denied CenterPoint’s request to withdraw its pending request to increase rates. The company filed a petition in March to increase the average residential customer bill by $1.25 per month. After the enormous amount of criticism the company received in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, they withdrew their request. However, consumer advocacy groups and several cities served by CenterPoint – including Houston – fought against the company’s request to withdraw, hoping the review will result in lower rates to consumers. The rate increase application was filed by CenterPoint in March as they were required to do. Utility companies are required to file an application for rate reviews within 48 months of any previous rate increase. Even before Hurricane Beryl, consumer groups had filed their intent to ask the Public Utility for a rate decrease, claiming the company was over earning by 9.5%.
Tied into this is also the $2.7 billion resiliency plan that the company had previously filed that laid out their plan to strengthen its infrastructure against extreme weather. In denying the withdrawal for the rate increase, the judge allowed CenterPoint to withdraw its initial resiliency plan since the Public Utility Commission is currently investigating the company related to issues in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. Their report will be presented to the Governor and legislature and conveyed into legislation next session. At that time, CenterPoint has already said they will be requesting additional rate adjustments to underwrite the costs of the newly required upgrades.
Texans at the Democratic National Convention
There are no Democrats in statewide office in Texas or in positions of leadership in Congress. So, all of the Texans at the convention will be local officials or rank and file members of Congress. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo started out the week in Chicago with a very short speech of less than 3 minutes where she praised the Biden administration for their assistance with Hurricane Beryl recovery efforts. The second Texan to speak on opening night was first term Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Dallas who took her brief allotted time to attack former President Trump for being “a career criminal with 34 felonies” compared to Vice-President Harris who she called a career prosecutor who has “lived the American dream.”
One Texan of note received a high honor on Monday night when El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar was tapped to be one of the national co-chairs of the convention. She presided over festivities on Thursday evening when Harris formally accepted the nomination.
Democratic US Senate nominee Colin Allred has not embraced the Harris/Walz campaign due to the popularity of former President Trump in Texas. Furthermore, Allred’s campaign is aggressively reaching out to independent voters by showing he is less partisan than some of his Washington counterparts. However, he did share the stage last night with other House Democrats that are also trying to get a promotion from the voters to the upper chamber. He spoke shortly before Vice-President Harris took the stage last night, declaring that “I’m going to beat Ted Cruz.” In his short speech, he went on to address a few issues, saying he would fight for reproductive freedom, to secure the border, and to defend Medicare and social security. No Democrat has won a US Senate race in Texas since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
Record Breaking Temperatures this Week
Demand for electricity set another record on Tuesday evening as triple-digit temperatures were reached in most parts of the state. Power demand reached 85,559 megawatts according to ERCOT at 5PM on Tuesday surpassing the previous record of 85,508 set in August of last year. One megawatt can power 250 homes during the hot summer days. Power demand was below 84,000 on Wednesday with ERCOT declaring there is enough power to meet demand during this most recent round of unusually high temperatures. ERCOT said they have added 15 gigawatts of power to the grid over the last year from various sources including wind, solar, and battery storage.
The major heat alerts for the entire state remain in effect as an area of high pressure – referred to as a heat dome – is moving very slowly across the state. Temperatures in Austin reached as high as 109 on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and dropping slightly to 106 yesterday. The Houston area saw temperatures at or near 100 degrees from Tuesday through Thursday, while the metroplex also saw temperatures over 100 degrees for the same three-day period. The heat dome is forecast to start moving slightly to the north and east tomorrow, bringing slight relief to the extreme temperatures.
Texas Files Suit to Block Rules on Protections for Transgender Employees
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit this week in an attempt to block rules issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission related to harassment and discrimination against transgender individuals in the workplace. The EEOC rules seek to clarify that denying an employee certain accommodations related to their gender identity constitutes harassment and discrimination under federal law. Examples of what the EEOC deemed as violations include denying the employee from using the bathroom of their choice and using a pronoun that is inconsistent with the person’s gender identity. Paxton’s suit claims that the federal government is “preempting the state’s sovereign power to enact and abide by its workplace policies” and also “forces a choice of either changing policies at the taxpayer’s expense or ignoring the rules and facing the consequences of litigation.” In his press release announcing the lawsuit, Paxton said these rules are overreach by the federal government and nothing more than an attempt by the Biden administration to force private businesses in Texas to adopt transgender mandates. The suit was filed in federal district court in Amarillo.
Kroger, Albertson’s Merger Promises Lower Prices
For those of you in the Houston area or metroplex, the proposed merger by two grocery stores is promising to cut prices by $1 billion. In an attempt to make the $25 billion merger look more attractive to federal regulators, representatives from Kroger and Albertsons have pledged to cut prices if the deal is approved. If the deal goes through, it will create a mega chain of more than 4,000 stores nationwide. The two stores have said the merger is necessary to compete with Walmart and Amazon and have spent more than $800 million in fees since the merger was announced in October of 2022. The merger faces stiff opposition. The Federal Trade Commission has challenged the merger, saying it will eliminate competition and force higher (not lower) prices. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union – representing 30,000 grocery store employees in four states – have also come out in opposition to the merger. Workers in Oregon and California have also registered opposition. State AGs from Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, and Iowa have recently filed briefs opposing the merger as well.
Kroger operates 209 stores in the state of Texas, concentrated in the greater Houston and DFW areas. Albertsons operates 42 stores in Texas, most of which are in the DFW area.
Border News
According to Border Report, Texas National Guard members are working to reinforce the razor wire fencing already in place near Brownsville with anti-climbing barriers. A total of 6,000 feet of the barrier is slated to be built along the banks of the Rio Grande, with the project starting near the Gateway International Bridge. Currently, the barriers are being constructed directly across from a migrant camp housing 1,000 asylum seekers living in Matamoros.
Texas AG Ken Paxton has filed suit against FIEL, an immigrants rights group based in Houston that Paxton claims violated laws relative to political involvement by a nonprofit organization. The group offers education, social, and legal services to immigrant families in the Houston area. The lawsuit claims FIEL is engaged in political activity through their social media posts that encourage people to vote against Trump and through their continued advocacy against state legislative proposals that seek to strengthen immigration laws. The state is asking for a termination of FIEL by revoking their status as a nonprofit and for a permanent injunction against them doing business in Texas.
Odds and Ends
The Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd has been transferred to a prison in Big Spring, Texas, about 100 miles southwest of Lubbock. Derek Chauvin had been serving his 21-year sentence in a facility near Tucson, where he was stabbed 22 times last November. His new home houses 825 federal inmates. A spokesman for the federal bureau of prisons said that for security reasons, there would be no comment on why Chauvin was transferred to Texas.
Transgender Texans will no longer be able to change their designated sex on their driver’s license. The Department of Public Safety issued the policy change this week that instructs their employees to no longer accept documentation that seeks to change the gender listed on their driver’s license. The states of Arkansas, Tennessee, Montana, Kansas, and Florida have similar policies in place.
The University of Houston/Hobby School of Public Affairs recently released a poll showing Vice-President Kamala Harris gaining ground in Texas. The new poll shows Trump with a 49.5% to 44.6.% lead over Harris, which is down from the 9 points the same poll showed Trump having in June. Furthermore, the poll shows Democrat Colin Allred within 2 points of Republican incumbent US Senator Ted Cruz. The poll showed Cruz the choice of 46.6% of the respondents compared to 44.5% for Allred. The poll was conducted among “self-identified likely voters”, not registered likely voters, making many skeptical of the poll’s numbers. Skeptics include Harris/Walz campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon who suggested this week that Texas was not in play, and the campaign would be using their resources in more closely contested states.
And finally, the University of Texas System announced yesterday that UT-San Antonio and UT-Health Science Center San Antonio will merge into one institution. The goal of the merger is to “combine the strength of the academic institution with the health-related school to create a globally recognized research hub for south Texas”, according to a statement released by the system announcing the merger. System officials say the merger will be completed sometime in 2025. The combined schools will include six campuses and have more than 40,000 students and have research expenditures of nearly $470 million annually.
Political Notes
Gov. Abbott has officially set November 5th – the uniform election day – as the special election for state House district 56 in McLennan County. The incumbent, Rep. Doc Anderson, resigned last week. Anderson – who did not seek reelection in 2024 — said he wanted to resign to allow for the special election so his successor could get a head start in the order of seniority over the other incoming members that will take office in 2025. There will be at least 30 new House members when the legislature convenes in January. In House District 56, Pat Curry won the Republican nomination and will assured be elected in this safely Republican seat.
You aren’t likely to see them on local TV stations here in Texas, but the Harris/Walz campaign has booked $370 million in television and online ads that will run between Labor Day and the November election. The online ads include spots on Roku, Hulu, YouTube, and Paramount. Where you may see the TV ads are on national broadcasts for sporting events in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Spots will also be run on top rated shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and the Golden Bachelorette. The campaign said they are locking in the spots now since rates will go up as the election day gets closer.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire is facing criticism from pro-Palestinian groups after he publicly accused the groups of being financed by the government of Iran. Several groups have been protesting outside of Whitmire’s home in recent weeks, and he has said they are simply professionally paid protestors. Whitmire says his statements are based on “advice of Homeland Security… that there is a connection to Iran.” The activists have demanded an apology from Whitmire and vowed the protests will continue.
What’s Next??
The House Elections Committee meets on Monday to discuss management processes for voter registration data issues facing county elections administrators.
The House Human Services committee will meet on Tuesday to receive an update from the Department of Family and Protective Services and to evaluate access to home and community-based health services.
The Senate Business and Commerce Committee will meet Tuesday to discuss the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the private sector as it relates to privacy concerns and consumer protection.
Senate committees have nothing scheduled next week.
Here is a link to the full list of hearings later this summer and fall, and the agenda for each hearing https://www.legis.state.tx.us