While the Legislature has improved the franchise process, it has left franchise fees at high levels. So while the process is now more efficient, consumers still pay fees that providerevenues for cities far above what it costs to manage the public ROW.
Energy & Environment
Fool Me Twice: Why the Texas Grid is Still Vulnerable to Winter Storms | Part 3: How Texas Can Solve Its Winter Reliability Problem
Part 3: How Texas Can Solve Its Winter Reliability Problem Five years after Winter Storm Uri, the ERCOT grid is still not ready for the next major winter storm. The first two installments of this series showed that demand has grown more than 20% since 2021 while firm generation capacity has barely budged, and the...
February 12, 2026