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Texas Froze and California Burned. To Insurers, They Look Similar.



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In California, insurers were able to point to a state law, since amended, that held power utilities liable for the fires their equipment started, even without a finding of negligence. In Texas, the law requires a showing of gross negligence. And last month, the biggest target of consumer blame — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT — was effectively granted sovereign immunity by the Texas Supreme Court. The ruling, in an unrelated case, left standing a state appellate decision that ERCOT is “a quasi-governmental regulator, performing an essential public service” and therefore can’t be sued.ERCOT’s liability insurer …

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