Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is taking aim at former State Rep. Chris Paddie for taking a position as a lobbyist for a major energy company.

Paddie resigned from the Texas House last year shortly after being censured by his home county’s GOP for working against Republican priorities in the Legislature.

As the chair of the House State Affairs Committee, Paddie’s committee saw much of the legislation in response to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and their failure to properly manage Texas’ electric grid—leading to sky-high electric prices for those lucky enough to have power during the winter storm in 2021. Most notably, the Public Utility Commission, which oversees ERCOT, approved a price of $9,000 per megawatt hour during the height of the winter storms, which resulted in high wholesale prices of electricity to providers and consumers on wholesale variable rate plans.

But while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Senate repeatedly attempted to pass legislation to retroactively lower electric prices to energy providers, those attempts were killed by Texas House leadership—including Paddie.

A recent Twitter post from Patrick shows the relationship is still icy.

After Paddie registered as a lobbyist for Vistra Corp, one of the power generation companies at the heart of the winter storm debacle, Patrick called the news “disappointing and troubling.”

“His actions last session on ERCOT grid failures were disingenuous and unprofessional, some say underhanded,” Patrick added.

Patrick then announced that Paddie was not welcome in his office.

This isn’t the first time Patrick has blasted Paddie publicly.

When it was rumored that Paddie could potentially be picked to lead the Association of Electric Companies of Texas last fall, Patrick sent an email to his supporters saying Paddie had “forfeited his credibility with my office and with many members of the Texas Senate.”

Brandon Waltens

Brandon serves as the Senior Editor for Texas Scorecard. After managing successful campaigns for top conservative legislators and serving as a Chief of Staff in the Texas Capitol, Brandon moved outside the dome in order to shine a spotlight on conservative victories and establishment corruption in Austin. @bwaltens

RELATED POSTS