SB 366: No Power Shutoffs While Your County Is a Declared Disaster

The governor can declare a weather disaster in your county.

Under the current wording of Texas law, that declaration alone does not stop a power shutoff.

SB 366 would change that.

Plain English summary

FACT: On November 13, 2026, State Sen. Molly Cook filed Senate Bill 366.

It changes one subsection of the Texas Utilities Code, Section 39.101(h).

FACT: Today that subsection says a retail electric provider cannot disconnect a residential customer during an "extreme weather emergency" or on a weekend day. Bills that come due during the emergency get deferred, and the company has to work with the customer on a pay schedule.

FACT: Right now, "extreme weather emergency" has two triggers.

1. Yesterday's high did not top 32 degrees, and the National Weather Service predicts it stays at or below freezing for the next 24 hours.
2. The National Weather Service issues a heat advisory for any county in the service territory, or issued one on either of the previous two days.

FACT: SB 366 adds a third trigger. Any county in the service territory is under a weather-related disaster declaration issued by the governor under Chapter 418 of the Government Code.

FACT: If it passes, it takes effect September 1, 2027.

Why it matters

A disaster declaration and a freezing forecast are not the same thing.

Think about the days after the storm. The ice is melting. The thermometer climbs to 38. Roads are still closed. Lines are still down. People still cannot get to work. The governor's declaration is still in force.

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE: Under today's wording, the freeze trigger can end while the disaster does not. That is the gap this bill closes.

East Texas knows that gap. Ice storms. Tornadoes. Floods. A flood is a weather disaster with no freeze and no heat advisory attached to it.

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE: Reading the current text, neither existing trigger covers a flood or a tornado on a mild day. A governor's weather disaster declaration would.

The receipt

FACT: SB 366, 90th Legislature, filed November 13, 2026. Author: Cook.

FACT: The same idea was filed last session as SB 1312 by Cook, with nearly identical text. It was referred to the Senate Business and Commerce Committee on February 28, 2025. That referral is the last action on the record.

FACT: The current Section 39.101(h) and Chapter 418 of the Government Code are public. Links are in the sources on this page.

Who this covers, and who it may not

FACT: Section 39.101 sits in Chapter 39 of the Utilities Code, the chapter written for the competitive retail electric market. The bill names retail electric providers, power generation companies, aggregators, and other entities that provide retail electric service.

NEEDS AUTHENTICATION: A lot of East Texas buys power from an electric co-op or from a utility outside the competitive market. Whether this exact rule reaches those customers is a question for the Public Utility Commission and the bill analysis when one is written. Do not assume you are covered. Ask.

What Ryan says

RYAN STATEMENT:

I do not care whose name is on a bill. I care what it does for a family in Gregg County, or Harrison, or Upshur, sitting in a house with the power off.

If the governor says your county is a disaster, that word should mean something on your power bill too.

Read it close. This bill does not forgive a dime. You still owe the bill. It says pay it after the emergency, on a schedule. That is not a handout. That is common sense.

The same bill was filed last session. It went to committee, and that is where the record stops.

Two years later, here it is again.

Give it a hearing. Put it to a vote. Let every senator put a name on yes or no.

That is how you find out who means it.

What this does not prove

It does not prove SB 366 will get a hearing or pass.

It does not prove any company has disconnected a customer during a disaster declaration. I do not have a record of that in front of me, and I am not going to claim one.

It does not prove co-op customers or customers outside the competitive market are covered.

It does not forgive or cancel any power bill.

What it does prove

The current definition of "extreme weather emergency" has two triggers: a freeze and a heat advisory. A governor's weather disaster declaration is not one of them.

A bill to add it has now been filed twice. The last one stopped at committee referral.

The record does not lie.

The bottom line

When the state says your county is in a disaster, the power company should not be the next disaster.

SB 366 is one sentence long where it counts. Watch whether it gets a hearing this time.

Do not threaten anyone. Do not harass anyone. Do not contact anyone in my name. Read it. Share it. Send receipts, evidence, witnesses. Put eyes on the record.