Texas officials say it would cost $1 billion to cool prisons - but they've grossly overestimated AC

[TexasTowelie]

Texas officials say it would cost $1 billion to cool prisons – but they’ve grossly overestimated AC costs before

by Jolie McCullough, Texas Tribune


The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has put a hefty $1 billion price tag on the proposed installation of air conditioning in all of its uncooled prisons. But some lawmakers eyed the cost with skepticism Thursday as the department has a history of greatly overestimating cooling costs.

The estimate was provided to state lawmakers ahead of a hearing on a long-shot bill that would require all Texas prisons to be kept at temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees, as is required for local and county jails. Currently, 75 of the state’s 104 prisons and jails do not have air conditioning in most inmate housing areas where temperatures often rise above 100 degrees in the summer. (All units are equipped with heating for winter).

In the fiscal note tied to the bill, filed by state Rep. Terry Canales, TDCJ estimated it would cost $1 billion to install air conditioning in all of its uncooled prisons, and another $140 million each year for utilities and maintenance. But Canales, D-Edinburg, and at least one lawmaker on the House Corrections Committee doubted those numbers since the agency’s estimated air conditioning cost for one prison was slashed by more than 80 percent during a lengthy lawsuit that was settled last year.

“This is an exorbitant, disingenuous number that is used to scare away people such as yourselves to say this can't happen,” Canales said to committee members at the hearing Thursday. “Whoever came up with this number is ridiculous.”

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/03/21/texas-prisons-air-conditioning-1-billion-estimate/

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