By Mark Curriden
The severe winter storm that hit Texas two weeks ago has claimed its first energy company victim.
Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, the largest generation and transmission co-op in Texas, is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection shortly after midnight in the Southern District of Texas, The Texas Lawbook has learned.
Four legal and financial advisors with connections to Waco-based Brazos Electric and the 16 community members the co-op serves across 68 counties say that Brazos faces a demand for payment of possibly hundreds of millions of dollars for power and natural gas it purchased from other energy companies through ERCOT or directly from other energy producers during the frigid temperatures between Feb. 15 and 19.
“This week, Brazos and other power distributors are getting …