Q&A with Andres Medrano on Texas’ Wholesale Electricity Market vs. Rare Weather Events

Because he has represented clients in almost every sector of the Texas electricity industry, special counsel Andres Medrano recently spoke with Texas Lawyer to discuss his unique perspective on the weather events of February 2021. “It is possible to have a market of near-free competitive forces that regulates itself through the incentives of making profits, by being available to sell as much electricity as possible,” said Medrano. “It is also possible to have a market that is tightly regulated such that it always has plenty of reserve generation capacity and is perfectly hardened to operate in any type of weather conditions. It is not possible, however, to have both. The correct balance between the two is what legislators and other policymakers are currently trying to achieve.”