Texas governor says state's legislative session won't end until power grid problems are fixed

Greg Abbott.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Wednesday evening said Texans who lost power for several days last week during a severe winter storm "deserve answers" and will "get those answers" soon.

The nonprofit Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) operates the state's electrical grid, and when almost half the power usually available to the grid went offline amid the storm, millions of homes and businesses found themselves in the dark. "The fact is, power generation from all sources buckled under the harsh, freezing winter weather," Abbott said. "That includes natural gas, coal, nuclear, as well as wind and solar." Last week, Abbott said there were just wind and solar failures, but then walked back his comments.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.