Texas Governor Blasts Grid Boss, Seeks Power Plant Upgrades (3)

Texas Governor Greg Abbott demanded that lawmakers make winterization of power plants mandatory under state law after four days of widespread blackouts and water shortages.

Abbott harshly criticized the state’s grid manager, known as Ercot, and its chief executive officer, Bill Magness, for what he said was a failure to provide a realistic assessment of Texas’s generating capacity prior to the unprecedented cold snap.

“Ercot has failed on each of these measures that they said they had undertaken,” Abbott said during a media briefing on Thursday. “Texans deserve answers.”

In his sternest remarks to date on the performance of ...