Bill Magness, chief executive officer of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, at a hearing in Austin last week about the blackouts.
Photo: Eric Gay/Associated Press
The board of the Texas electric-grid operator fired Chief Executive Bill Magness, less than a month after the state’s power grid experienced massive blackouts for several days and came within minutes of collapse.
In a statement, the board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or Ercot, said it was exercising a 60-day termination notice for Mr. Magness, who has served as president and CEO since 2016. The board said Mr. Magness would continue to serve in his current roles for the next two months and will “work with state leaders and regulators on potential reforms to ERCOT.”
Mr. Magness couldn’t be reached for comment.
An Arctic blast of freezing weather in mid-February led dozens of power plants to shut down, destabilizing the grid and threatening its ability to operate. Ercot ordered widespread blackouts that lasted for more than four days.
In hearings in the state capitol, Mr. Magness was applauded by some lawmakers for preventing a more serious and long-lasting shutdown of the grid, but also criticized for not doing more to prevent the problems altogether by getting power plants and gas suppliers to be better prepared for winter weather.
The chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which regulates Ercot, also resigned earlier this week.
Write to Russell Gold at [email protected]
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Appeared in the March 4, 2021, print edition.
