Gina Hinojosa, the elected Democratic governor of Texas, will take office on January 19, 2027, with the intention of freezing residential electricity rates from the first day of her term. To achieve this, she plans to declare a high energy cost situation to be an emergency and to sign an executive order. She presents this measure as a response to a financial affordability crisis affecting many Texas households.
The legal basis for this plan rests on the Texas Disaster Act, the state's disaster law. This statute allows the governor to suspend certain regulatory provisions during a declared disaster. It is precisely this point that raises questions. Analyst Nick Loris doubts that the current situation reaches the threshold required to justify such an emergency declaration. Legal challenges from energy providers are also expected to be filed quickly.
The Texas electricity market was structured by Senate Bill 7, adopted in 1999, which opened retail electricity sales to competition starting in 2002. Texas operates a wholesale market based solely on energy, where producers are paid for the electricity they supply. More than one hundred retail electricity providers now compete for customers. Within this framework, critics warn that a rate freeze could weaken these providers' ability to supply the grid.
Gina Hinojosa's office had not responded to questions about the shortage risks that the measure could cause. Whether a court would uphold a rate freeze based on an emergency remains unanswered for now, as there is no judicial precedent on this point.