Texans continue to battle three crises: The COVID-19 outbreak, the resulting economic crisis, and an energy crisis. The latter comes from reduced world demand for petroleum and natural gas.
The Texas Railroad Commission has delayed a vote on oil production cuts. The issue will resurface next month. Meanwhile, President Trump is promising funds for the oil industry to forestall job cuts.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says the state shouldn’t have imposed stay-at-home provisions to fight coronavirus contagion. He praised measures that will reopen state parks and allow certain economic activity.
Some Texans are falling through the cracks of the state’s ban on disconnections during the COVID-19 crisis.
Texas produces nearly 41 percent of the nation’s oil and generates more than a quarter of its wind energy. One writer credits the state’s deregulated electricity market for what he calls the state’s “energy miracle.”
The Public Utility Commission of Texas warned consumers that third parties cannot enroll them in the state’s COVID-19 Electricity Relief Program. Such efforts, it said, could be attempts at stealing personal financial data.
This isn’t directly related to Texas, by OilPrice.com reports that U.S. energy consumption has fallen to a 16-year low. Estimates of the overall energy usage decline range from 5.7 percent to 8 percent.
The BBC provides a good window into what is happening with electricity use during the lockdown. Overall, in Great Britain, morning and afternoon electricity use is down nearly 20 percent, due to lower demand from large industrial users. Overall residential use is up 3-6 percent.