Winterizing Texas power plants becomes major political issue

Amid a public backlash over power outages that have left millions of Texans cold and in the dark, Governor Greg Abbott declared a new legislative emergency: He wants state lawmakers to require the winterization of the state’s power system, and for them to provide funding to make it happen.

This has become a major political issue after independent energy experts have said the power plant operators have not done enough to protect their facilities from the extreme cold temperatures Texas is experiencing this week.

During a news conference Thursday morning, ERCOT administrators said the state doesn’t require power plant operators to follow a certain criteria to winterize their generation units, and that it’s not their role to require standards.