On Sunday, Cruz shared a Dallas Morning News article about people facing skyrocketing electric bills, which were widely blamed on the state’s unregulated, independent power grid.

“This is WRONG,” he wrote. “No power company should get a windfall because of a natural disaster, and Texans shouldn’t get hammered by ridiculous rate increases for last week’s energy debacle. State and local regulators should act swiftly to prevent this injustice.”

Critics quickly seized on Cruz’s comments, pointing out the contrast between his past defense of private companies over governance.

“Success of TX energy is no accident: it was built over many years on principles of free enterprise & low regulation w more jobs & opportunities as the constant goal,” he wrote in a 2019 tweet that resurfaced after his Sunday post. “We work to export this recipe for success to more & more states so that all Americans enjoy the same prosperity.”

“When you think of regulated monopolies, regulated public utilities, what are the adjectives that come to mind? They’re not bold, innovative …” he said in 2014.