Pablo Vegas, a utility executive who lives in Ohio, will be the new leader of Texas’ main power grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT’s board announced Vegas’ hiring Tuesday.
Vegas becomes ERCOT’s first permanent chief executive in 16 months, since former CEO Bill Magness was fired in the aftermath of the February 2021 power grid disaster, when a strong winter storm left millions of Texans without power for days after freezing temperatures shut down natural gas facilities and power plants, which rely on each other to keep electricity flowing. Hundreds of people died.
Following the deadly blackouts, Texas politicians lambasted ERCOT’s board of directors because some of them did not reside in Texas, and many of them resigned. At the time, a bipartisan chorus from state lawmakers expressed frustration and disbelief that many ERCOT board members, despite extensive energy industry expertise, lived outside the state.
