Winter Storm Uri
CEO Article, as appears in the April Texas Co-op Power issue, about the storm.
As state regulators and legislators continue to examine the Texas energy market, Medina EC and our wholesale power supplier will continue to work in the best interests of our members.
Member Concerns:
Pricing - At their February meeting, Medina EC's board of directors made the decision to write off more than $700,000 in power costs that were under-collected in 2020. They made this decision to maintain rates and protect customers from unforeseen rate increases in the midest of the extraordinary circumstances from the severe weather in February. In part due to this decision, rates did not change from the February, March or April bill. You can always see current rates on our website here. Our wholesale power supplier, South Texas Electric Cooperative, reports that it is not in danger of financial instability and will continue to safely and reliably provide wholesale energy and transmission service to its member cooperatives, which includes Medina EC.
Use - Members may have seen slight changes in use, due to it being so cold. You can monitor daily use for your account with SmartHub. SmartHub is free and if members need help registering, they can contact our staff at Info@MedinaEC.org.
Texas Energy Market:
- ERCOT - The Electric Reliability Council of Texas manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texans, or about 90% of the Texas electric load. ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. Its members include consumers, cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities, transmission and distribution providers and municipally owned electric utilities. Medina Electric is one of the cooperatives within the ERCOT market.
- Wholesale power suppliers - These suppliers generate electricity. This is who Medina EC purchases power from to distribute to our members. Our wholesale power supplier is South Texas Electric Cooperative. They are a generation and transmission cooperative, which means they generate electricity and send it over the transmission system to distribution providers.
- Distribution providers - These entities distribute electricity to consumers. Medina EC is a distribution cooperative, meaning we distribute electricity and operate under a not-for-profit business model.
Third Party Content:
Medina EC did not produce the video below and makes no warranties as to its accuracy, but we are sharing this link to third-party content in case certain members wish to learn more about what happened during the 2021 winter storms.
