A Texas bill passed earlier this year may set back efforts to keep senior citizens in assisted living facilities safe during power outages, and advocates fear more could die as a result. 

What's happening?

As detailed by ABC 13 Eyewitness News, Harris County introduced legislation requiring assisted living facilities to install backup power systems after Hurricane Beryl, which hit Texas in July 2024 and caused widespread grid outages that left many without electricity for days.  

In Harris County, seniors accounted for nearly 75% of hurricane-linked deaths, with about half dying from hyperthermia, or overheating, according to analysis from Houston Public Media. 

In response, Harris County commissioners unanimously approved a new law requiring backup generators to be capable of powering heat or air conditioning at assisted living facilities. 

However, House Bill 3595 — a bipartisan piece of legislation passed in June — contains language specifying that it overrides local ordinances.

Why is this important?

HB3595's intent is to bolster the Lone Star State's emergency preparedness and contingency operations, and it does include provisions requiring temperature-regulated areas between 68 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit for assisted living residents. 

Yet critics argue that it doesn't do enough to protect residents who are most vulnerable to heat — the top weather-related killer — when the power goes out. 

As explained by the National Institute on Aging, seniors are more susceptible to extreme heat because their bodies don't regulate temperatures as effectively. And Texas is not immune to the effects of a warming climate, including more intense extreme weather events.

As Eyewitness News notes, Texas has required emergency power for nursing homes since 1996, but that law doesn't mandate those systems to keep heat or air conditioning on. 

While industry groups might be pleased with HB3595 because it gives them flexibility in how to meet the legislation's requirements, the bill could leave residents in the same predicament, according to Claire Hao, energy and power grid reporter for the Houston Chronicle.

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"Advocates worry that this is already an industry that has shown it's wary to installing backup power," Hao told Eyewitness News. "Without a requirement, most of them won't go the extra length to seek out backup power and go after the funding. Some of them might, but it's not the comprehensive solution they had sought with a requirement."

What's being done about this? 

While concerns remain about how industry groups will interpret and implement HB3595, Texas lawmakers have greenlit $1.8 billion in funding for critical facilities to install backup power sources, according to Eyewitness News. 

While that money will be dispersed for various emergency operations, senior facilities will receive at least a portion of that investment. 

The funding is also part of a broader initiative to boost grid reliability and resilience, and it will support the development of easy-to-scale microgrids including solar battery storage. 

While gas-fired generation will still be part of the picture, the inclusion of solar in the energy mix is a promising step that could also result in lower, more stable energy prices for Texas residents. 

What's more — unlike gas — solar systems don't spew asthma-linked, heat-trapping pollution when they generate electricity.

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