PEC board member Jim Powers has just resigned, apparently because of conflicts of interest that he failed to manage, and the episode raises troubling questions that need to be addressed by our electric power co-op.
Powers is a former Hays County judge, and a prominent Republican who had previously been appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to the board of another utility, the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority. Rumors of conflicts of interest – using public office to prosper his business enterprises – have circulated quietly for some time, but without proof.
Then last week at a special executive session of the PEC board, conflicts of interest were discussed and it seems – though no one is saying so on the record – that Powers was encouraged to resign. He did, and though the official reason was so he could spend more time on his business, he told the Austin American-Statesman, “I’m not saying that’s not true” when asked whether fellow board members had asked for his resignation because of conflicts of interest.
