The board members cited concerns of “out of state leadership,” as three live in other states, and one lives in another country.
Four board members of Texas’ power grid operator have announced their plans to resign in the wake of a severe winter storm that left millions of Texans without power for days and led to at least 31 deaths in the state. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly blamed the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) for the power failures, and has called for an investigation into the council. In a letter to the board, the resigning members cited concerns about their “out-of-state board leadership.” Three of the resigning board members live in other states, and one lives in another country. “We have noted recent concerns about out-of-state board leadership at ERCOT,” the letter said. “To allow state leaders a free hand with future direction and to eliminate distractions, we are resigning from the board effective after our urgent board teleconference meeting adjourns on Wednesday, February 24, 2021.” The resigning members also said they wanted to “acknowledge the pain and suffering of Texans during this past week” and noted that many Texans are still facing “the tragic consequences of this emergency.” Over the course of multiple days last week, people throughout much of the state were forced to deal with blackouts and burst and flooding pipes amid sub-freezing temperatures. Dozens of counties in the state have been declared areas by President Biden, and millions of people were under a boil water order. Resigning board members include board chairman Sally Talberg, who lives in Michigan; board vice chairman Peter Crampton, who lives in Germany; finance and audit committee chairman Terry Bulger, who lives in Illinois; and human resources and governance committee chairman Raymond Hepper, who lives in Maine, according to company profiles and other biographical pages.
