Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday delivered an update to the State response to the widespread power outages due to severe winter weather conditions that has left around 3 million Texans cold and in the dark.
According to the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality, 110 counties have reported issues with water systems as a result of the lack of power. Just under 7 million Texans are facing boil water notices as well.
Governor Abbott opened up his Wednesday Press Conference from the Alternate State Operations Center in Austin with weather reports showing that a significant portion of the state will see snow, sleet and temperatures below freezing at least until Saturday.
With regard to power, Abbott said that due to mechanical problems, a lack of natural gas and the ongoing freeze more than 36,000 megawatts (MW) of power remain offline. He was optimistic that more generators would be coming back online saying that about 6,000 MW have been added to the Texas grid over the past 24 hours, which is equivalent to power for about 1.2 million households. In addition to the 6,000 MW restored to the grid, Abbott said additional power generation from coal and nuclear sources will continue to come online throughout the coming days.
In dealing with the gas supply issues, Abbott issued an executive order requiring the natural gas producers that have been shipping to locations outside of Texas to instead sell the supply to local power generators, effective until February 21st. The Governor also noted that he's been working closely with the White House to provide additional resources for Texans and expand the supply of the energy in the state.
"The State of Texas is working around the clock to provide the resources, assistance, and support that our communities need to respond to the impacts of this winter weather," said Abbott. "We will continue to exhaust all available methods to restore power for Texans and ensure that our communities can recover."
