Changing Name Of Railroad Commission Isn’t Enough
By Vince Leibowitz on Dec 10, 2008 in 81st Texas Legislature ![[Post to Twitter]](/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter.png){kind=icon}
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Yesterday, State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) filed legislation to change the name of the Texas Railroad Commission to the Texas Energy Commission.
SB 341 does not, however, go far enough. It is a broken, nearly useless agency that essentially does nothing more than rubber-stamp drilling permits although its real missions include consumer and environmental protection.
Changing the name of the Texas Railroad Commission to the Texas Energy Commission is stupid. Why? Because it isn’t the only state agency that regulates energy. That would, in fact, be the Texas Public Utility Commission.
It is time for Legislators to wake up and realize that they have two fairly emasculated agencies doing the job that one should be doing. It is time to merge the Public Utility Commission and the Texas Railroad Commission once and for all under one roof, one name, and one elected Commissioner of Energy & Utilities.
The Texas Railroad Commission regulates everything from surface mining of uranium to saltwater disposal wells to drilling permits for oil and gas. It does not, however, actually regulate the production of energy itself. It regulates how it is transported (natural gas pipelines) and the cost of natural gas, to a degree, for consumers (through rate increase cases). The PUC, on the other hand, does much of this for electricity and telecommunications utilities.
Calling the Railroad Commission the Energy Commission is not only a misnomer, it is simply idiotic.
Having two separate state agencies dedicated to regulating energy and utilities is idiotic, too. Imagine how much taxpayer money could be saved by combining the two agencies, and eliminating two of the three ridiculous pieces of furniture that inhabit the Railroad Commission.
In its day, the Railroad Commission was created to do what its name says it should do: regulate railroads. Today, it has nothing whatsoever to do with railroads. It is time for more than just the type of cosmetic makeover a name change would bring. It is time for a complete remodeling of this agency and the Public Utility Commission. It’s time to place both agencies under one popularly elected Commissioner who serves a four-year term of office–none of these six-year terms that allow the utility companies to fatten campaign coffers for five years.
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[...] Vince at Capitol Annex is taking on Texas’ least appropriately named state agency, the Texas Railroad Commission, and Sen. Jeff Wentworth’s proposal to rename it as the Texas Energy Commission: In its day, the Railroad Commission was created to do what its name says it should do: regulate railroads. Today, it has nothing whatsoever to do with railroads. It is time for more than just the type of cosmetic makeover a name change would bring. It is time for a complete remodeling of this agency and the Public Utility Commission. It’s time to place both agencies under one popularly elected Commissioner who serves a four-year term of office — none of these six-year terms that allow the utility companies to fatten campaign coffers for five years. [...]