Q&A: Get to know the Republican primary candidates for Texas railroad commissioner

What would your top priorities be if elected?

Affordability – so Texans can afford to heat their homes and put food on the table. Adaptability – to prepare for a rapidly changing energy landscape with new technologies and shifting market demands. Accountability – greater transparency for clear oversight, responsible stewardship of natural resources, and openness about how decisions are made.

What are your views on the future of renewable energy in Texas?

Our population is growing and requiring more energy, we need energy in all forms to help us meet the moment.

What steps will you take to handle environmental risks and overall safety related to Texas’ oil and gas and pipeline infrastructure?

The Railroad Commission needs to be more proactive on pipeline safety. We need to utilize data and risk analysis to help identify patterns, prioritize inspections, and focus attention on higher risk facilities.

What changes, if any, would you make to the rules governing drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Texas?

The current bonding program for drilling that is supposed to cover the plugging costs needs to be reworked. We need a realistic amount of financial buy-in from drilling companies to fully cover the plugging activities, and to make those companies responsible for monitoring the well in perpetuity.

What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?

Increasing energy demands, requiring new technologies and an openness to utilizing all forms of energy generation.

What would your top priorities be if elected?

Adding transparency and the ability of Texans to understand what the RRC does and allow them to meaningfully participate in decisions that impact them. Stopping the over-injection of produced water that is threatening drinking water and curtailing oil & gas production. Plugging orphaned wells with industry, not taxpayer dollars.

What are your views on the future of renewable energy in Texas?

I think Texans need inexpensive and reliable energy. I am source agnostic.

What steps will you take to handle environmental risks and overall safety related to Texas’ oil and gas and pipeline infrastructure?

I will hire experienced inspectors to make sure construction complies with regulations and fine those who do not comply.

What changes, if any, would you make to the rules governing drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Texas?

We have sufficient rules on the books, but they need to be enforced evenly and fairly. No special treatment for certain operators and not for others.

What would your top priorities be if elected?

Top priorities: revolutionizing RRC permitting, cutting regulation, decentralizing the Commission's power back to regional offices, and ending DEI spending at the RRC.

What are your views on the future of renewable energy in Texas?

The RRC regulates far more than just oil and gas. I believe that new technologies and methods can be helpful in producing energy, but oil and gas are our most reliable backbone.

What steps will you take to handle environmental risks and overall safety related to Texas’ oil and gas and pipeline infrastructure?

We need to plug more abandoned wells and do it right. Currently, most contracts for this are awarded on non-competitive DEI criteria. By ending DEI criteria and requiring competitive bidding, we will be able to start plugging more wells.

What changes, if any, would you make to the rules governing drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Texas?

I would streamline permitting and use incentivization, rather than overregulation, to encourage the RRC's preferred methods.

What would your top priorities be if elected?

Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.

What are your views on the future of renewable energy in Texas?

Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.

What steps will you take to handle environmental risks and overall safety related to Texas’ oil and gas and pipeline infrastructure?

Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.

What changes, if any, would you make to the rules governing drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Texas?

Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.

What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?

Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.

What would your top priorities be if elected?

It is essential that Texas leads America and the world in energy production. To do this, we need to protect Texas energy independence. This boils down to strong oil and gas production, fair and consistent regulation, and protecting the land, water, and people of Texas.

What are your views on the future of renewable energy in Texas?

Renewables will continue to play a role in Texas’s energy mix, but never at the expense of the reliability of our electrical grid. We must ensure Texas has enough reliable baseload power to meet rising demand. That can be accomplished by fossil fuel generation, low-carbon nuclear power, or newer technologies.

What steps will you take to handle environmental risks and overall safety related to Texas’ oil and gas and pipeline infrastructure?

As Commissioner, I have worked with our state legislature, as well as the federal government and neighboring states, to ensure necessary funding for intrastate and interstate pipeline system inspections throughout Texas. We exceeded the goals for pipeline inspections by 127%, and the goals for oil and gas inspections by 127%.