Texas Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa’s pledge to freeze residential electricity rates on her first day in office is drawing warnings that the move could undermine competition and threaten power suppliers’ ability to cover their expenses.

“The Texas Disaster Act lets the governor declare disasters and suspend the regulatory laws and statutes that are in existence,” said Nick Loris, president of C3 Solutions, a conservative organization focused on energy and environmental policy, reports The New York Post on Tuesday.

“But I think there is a high degree of skepticism, both from courts but also from state policymakers, that this warrants such a claim — and that it is such a disaster,” Loris added. “I would imagine if there were legal challenges, it would come from those affected parties.”

During the election, Hinojosa said in an interview with a local energy data group that on day one as governor, she plans to “freeze residential electricity rates and make corporations finally pay their fair share.”

She doubled down on the plan in an interview with The Texas Tribune, stating that “Within an hour of taking the oath of office, I will declare a high-cost emergency in the state of Texas and issue an emergency executive order to … freeze electricity rates.”

Loris said that electricity providers would likely challenge the order in court and questioned whether high prices would justify invoking emergency powers.

Texas lawmakers approved Senate Bill 7 in 1999, opening much of the state to retail electricity competition beginning in 2002. Customers in competitive markets can choose among providers offering different prices, contract lengths, and power sources.

The law established a policy favoring customer choice and competition in electricity pricing, while retaining regulation of transmission and distribution services.

Loris said that structure gives consumers flexibility to select plans suited to their needs.

“It’s like shopping at a grocery store for cereal for your retail electricity. There’s so much choice that you can enter into. Short-term contracts, long-term contracts, use different fuel sources,” he said.

He warned that freezing residential rates could prevent suppliers from recovering their costs when wholesale electricity prices fluctuate, potentially weakening their ability to serve customers.

“If the electricity suppliers are not covering the costs that they incur, that’s going to leave them worse off and make it more vulnerable for them to adequately provide that power,” Loris said.

“Price signals really kind of act like a traffic light. They tell people when to speed up, when to slow down, or when to come to a full stop,” he added.

Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in the Nov. 3 election and is scheduled to take office on Jan. 19.