Erin Douglas, Texas Tribune

The state's grid operator included extreme weather scenarios in its early summer assessment and found that a combination of a severe drought, heat wave and low winds could lead to more power outages. Experts warn this summer could be hot and dry, enhanced by climate change.

A bill advancing in the House seeks to ban spent nuclear fuel, one of the most dangerous types of radioactive waste, from coming to Texas.

Senate Bill 3 would require all power generators, transmission lines, natural gas facilities and pipelines to make upgrades for extreme weather. Its prospects are uncertain in the House, which is scheduled to take up a series of related, standalone bills on Tuesday.

The bill would direct state investment funds to divest from companies that cut ties with fossil fuel companies, pitting Texas against some increasingly carbon-conscious Wall Street investors.

An independent market monitor for the Public Utility Commission of Texas wrote in a letter that ERCOT kept market prices for power too high for nearly two more days after widespread outages ended late Feb. 17.

Oil refineries, chemical plants and other industrial operators emitted 3.5 million pounds of excess pollution during the winter storm and power crisis in Texas, according to an analysis of company notices provided to state regulators.

Sally Talberg, board chair; Peter Cramton, vice chair; Terry Bulger, finance and audit chair; and Raymond Hepper, human resources and governance committee chair, will resign at the end of the ERCOT board meeting Wednesday morning, according to a public notice.

Lost wind power makes up only a fraction of the reduction in power-generating capacity that has brought outages to millions of Texans across the state during a major winter storm.

In some areas of the West Texas city, the state found concentrations of benzene, a known carcinogen, to be 35 times the safe limit. For other chemicals identified in the water, no concentration is considered safe.

A hazardous waste disposal company in Andrews County wants to handle more dangerous levels of nuclear waste. Federal agencies are pondering new rules that could allow more of it to come to Texas.

Some areas of Texas could benefit from Biden’s federal directive to accelerate cleanups of legacy oil and gas, mining and hazardous waste contamination.

An updated EPA rule requires drinking water in elementary schools be tested for lead and copper — a mandate that emerged from the Flint, Mich. water crisis.