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AUSTIN (KXAN) – Nathan Byman runs a small manufacturing company in Austin with a team of 12 people.
Last Sunday, Wolfram Manufacturing lost power without warning or notification from state or local energy agencies.
Even after the lights came back on later that week, Wolfram was not allowed to work due to an order from the city of Austin and Travis County to limit commercial energy use.
“It’s hard to put into words how damaging this is going to be,” Bynam told KXAN. “There will be a lot of people who will be afraid to produce here.”
Legislature is urging FEMA and Biden to expand the disaster declaration to all Texas counties
Texas leaders have long advocated the state as business-friendly and lauded companies like Oracle, HP, and Tesla who left California for the Lone Star State.
But last week’s storm and the state’s perceived puncture preparation could jeopardize that reputation, according to Texan accountant Glenn Hegar, the state’s top accountant.
“Unfortunately, Texas’s reputation has been a black eye in the last few days,” Hegar told state lawmakers on Monday. “The Ultimate Path of Our Economy It is important what we are doing on this issue in this legislature to restore confidence in companies and people who want to come to the state for economic opportunities.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton traveled to Utah during a winter storm and power outage
Chip makers like Samsung and NXP, some of the city’s biggest energy consumers, stayed closed to production on the Monday after last week’s winter storm crisis, even though electricity was restored to almost all homes in the city.
The break in production could cost some Austin manufacturers millions, according to the Austin Business Journal.
On Monday afternoon, a Samsung spokesperson said Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s power had been restored and efforts were being made to resume operations as soon as possible.
Steven Pedigo, a professor at the University of Texas’ Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and an expert on economic development, said the business community is not only concerned about the power grid, but also about exponential growth that state leaders are ignoring .
“This is the challenge we face today, that if we are not ready to deal now with our homes, our local transport, our infrastructure and all these things, growth starts to control us,” said Pedigo.
KXAN policy reporter John Engel will have a full report tonight at 6 p.m.
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