Texas appeals court greenlights lawsuits against power companies over 2021 winter storm
A landmark ruling has been handed down by a Harris County appeals court this week, marking a significant development in the legal battle involving thousands of plaintiffs across Texas who were impacted by the devastating winter storm of 2021. The court’s decision paves the way for gross negligence lawsuits against power distribution companies such as Oncor to proceed, in relation to the widespread power outages experienced during the unprecedented weather event.
Court documents reveal that the ruling encompasses a multitude of plaintiffs from various regions of the state, whose individual lawsuits have been consolidated for pre-trial proceedings. A three-judge panel of the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston has determined that legal claims alleging gross negligence or intentional misconduct can be pursued against Oncor, as well as co-defendants CenterPoint and AEP Texas.
However, the court has specified that plaintiffs are prohibited from pursuing negligence claims specifically related to the duty of a transmission and distribution utility (TDU) like Oncor to provide power during times of emergency. This distinction underscores the complexity of the legal issues at hand, as the fallout from the winter storm continues to unfold in the legal arena.
The winter storm of February 2021 brought frigid temperatures and icy conditions, resulting in unprecedented demand for power across Texas. The state’s power grid operator, ERCOT, issued directives to curtail power supply in order to avert a catastrophic collapse of the grid, leaving power companies like Oncor to make critical decisions about where outages would occur. The resulting outages, initially described as rolling blackouts, left many communities without power for extended periods.
In the aftermath of the storm, a wave of lawsuits emerged, with thousands of individuals holding ERCOT, power producers, and distributors accountable for alleged failures in storm preparedness. The Supreme Court of Texas weighed in on the matter in June 2023, granting ERCOT immunity from civil lawsuits. As this complex legal saga continues to unfold, WFAA will diligently monitor and update this evolving story as new information comes to light.
