HOUSTON – On Monday, Senate Bill 1750 was passed requiring emergency preparedness plans from those facilities that are within the Texas chain of electric and natural gas.
“The weakness in all the legislation that has passed so far is that there are easy outs,” House Representative Jon Rosenthal of District 135 in the Katy area said.
Rosenthal is a mechanical engineer who has worked in the oil and gas industry for over 20 years.
He told KPRC 2 Investigates the state and its system to supply millions with power and heat is still very exposed.
“Right now, we are still vulnerable and we will be until they enact real change,” Rosenthal said.
He believes that for Texas to be certain the system is addressed properly, plans need to be completely detailed and transparent.
Rosenthal also said there must be proof to back up what is stated in the plans either through supplies or purchase receipts.
Lastly, fines should be mandatory and stiff, which will in turn force companies to act immediately.
“Make them accountable,” said Rosenthal, who pointed to Senate Bill 3 and the potential for steep fines it lists, including “A ceiling for $1 million a day and a fine for somebody that fails, the low end of that is $1,000 a day. If I’m running a gas production field in West Texas, I don’t care about $1,000 a day. It doesn’t even get my attention.”
The legislative session is set to wrap up on May 31. There have been discussions about a special session. One is expected, but as of right now, one is not officially on the books.