Brazos Execs Knew Electric Prices Would Soar Even Before Winter Storm Uri Hit

Two top executives of Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc. testified Monday in U.S. bankruptcy court that they knew skyrocketing prices for electricity were coming even before a weather-related emergency caused the Texas Public Utility Commission to make those prices a reality during last February’s Winter Storm Uri.

Clifton Karnei, general manager of the bankrupt Waco-based co-op, and John Clevenger, its vice president for power supply, said their projections and market analyses indicated that the emergency cost of electricity would soar to $9,000 per megawatt hour –  the highest price allowed at the time under Texas law, and hundreds of times the normal rate – even as the storm, with its ice, snow and record low temperatures, was barreling toward Texas.