Public Citizen Texas was founded in on August 21, 1984, by Ralph Nader and Craig McDonald, Public Citizen's national field organizer, with the purpose of fighting Southwestern Bell’s rate hikes, which occurred after the deregulation of phone Rates.
After Southwestern Bell withdrew the increase, the group decided to remain in Texas and pursue issues including consumer safety, government ethics and pollution.2 In 1985, Public Citizen Texas recruited Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of the Houston Food Bank and former legislative aid to be the organization's director, a position he has held until he retired in 2017.
Smitty has served on four commissions that looked at the future of the utility industry in Texas and has testified on more than 100 occasions on environmental and energy policy.
He has also been received the Austin Chronicle's critics' choice award for "Best People's Lobbyist".2 In 2018, Smitty became the executive director of TxETRA, a non-profit dedicated to advancing electric vehicle use in Texas.
Additionally they helped end a "grandfathering" loophole that allowed older power plants run without emissions controls, and improved safety requirements at the South Texas Nuclear Generating Station and the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant.2 Public Citizen Texas has hosted over 340 interns since its founding.