Texas Deep Freeze Should Cost Ercot Billions, Judge Told

The power grid operator in Texas shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind government immunity to avoid legal responsibility for billions of dollars in blackout-related losses, attorneys for the largest county in the state told Texas’s highest court.

The Texas Supreme Court is deliberating whether to extend so-called sovereign immunity to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, in a long-running separate fight over power plant construction. But if the court grants Ercot immunity in that case, the repercussions could be wide-ranging with the operator using the ruling to avoid liability in other cases, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said in a court filing Tuesday.