Jackson Walker partner Tré Fischer was featured in Texas publications discussing the Texas First District Court of Appeals decision issued on December 14, 2023, in the Winter Storm Uri multi-district litigation. Tré serves as liaison counsel for the hundreds of defendants in the MDL.

In its 33-page decision, the Court stated that “wholesale power generators are now statutorily precluded by the Legislature from having any direct relationship with retail customers of electricity,” and therefore “can have no legal relationship with retail customers as a matter of law.” Based on the current state of jurisprudence in Texas and the plain language of the controlling deregulatory statutes, the Court concluded that “Texas does not currently recognize a legal duty owed by wholesale power generators to retail customers to provide continuous electricity to the electric grid, and ultimately to the retail customers.”

In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Tré noted that the ruling “is an important decision confirming the roles and responsibilities of not only generators, but all participants in the ERCOT market.” He added: “While directly applicable to the five ‘bellwether cases, it effectively resolves the claims against the more than 350 generators named as defendants in these cases and also should substantially inform the resolution of the remaining claims against the other defendants.”

For more information, see the articles by The Texas Lawbook, Houston Chronicle, and Texas Lawyer. Please note a subscription may be required to view the full articles.

Tré’s Texas Lawbook interview follows a September 2023 CLE webcast he spoke on as a panelist regarding the Winter Storm Uri MDL. More on that CLE webcast can be found here.