The former head of the Texas electric grid testified in court on Wednesday that he was following the orders of the Texas governor when he ordered power prices to stay high during the winter.
Bill Magness, the former chief of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said that Abbott ordered power plants to turn back on at a time when they were already doing so.
The governor's office denied any involvement in the decision to keep the price of electricity at $9,000 per megawatt hour, which was substantially higher than the market price at the time. The decision led to the state overcharging power companies by $16 billion.
The governor did that.
In his testimony on Wednesday, Magness said that he was told by the Public Utility Commission Chairman that Abbott wanted to do whatever it took to prevent any more rolling blackouts in the state.
Magness said that the governor told her if we emerged from the rotating outages it was imperative that they not resume.
Walker resigned from her position at the beginning of March 2021. Magness was fired from his job.
The Texas Tribune reported that state officials estimated that 246 people died during the February freeze. The majority of deaths can be attributed to cold.
Abbott's office did not reply to Insider's request for comment.
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