<p>Magness was terminated without cause, a spokesperson said. According to the terms of his employment contract, his severance pay would have been equivalent to one year of his current base salary, which is more than $800,000.</p><p>Both ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the regulatory body that oversees it, have been lambasted in recent weeks for failures in preparing for and responding to the winter storm that left millions of people in the dark for days and claimed the lives of dozens of Texans.</p><p>On Monday,<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/01/dan-patrick-texas-ercot-resign/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for both</a> Magness and the chair of the PUC to resign. DeAnn Walker, the former chairwoman for the PUC, resigned that day. She had <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/01/texas-power-outages-public-utility-commission-resigns/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">come under sharp criticism from lawmakers</a> after largely blaming Texas' power outages on ERCOT.</p><p>Gov. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Greg Abbott</a> on Wednesday <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/03/arthur-dandrea-public-utility-commission/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">named Walker's replacement</a>.</p><p>Magness, who endured more than five hours of questioning by state senators on Thursday, was criticized for the organization's winter storm preparations.</p><p>Magness worked at ERCOT for more than a decade and became its CEO and president in 2016 after working as its general counsel. He previously held executive management positions in the public and private utility sectors.</p><p><br/></p>
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