As of 6:40 a.m. Tuesday, over 4 million Texas households are without power, according to poweroutage.us. CenterPoint Energy reported over 1.3 million customers without power in the Houston-area.
Fort Bend County Judge KP George sounded off on Twitter, saying Texans must demand answers when it comes to widespread outages.
I govern the most diverse county in the USA. As we enter sub-freezing temps (again!) we have no answers or sub-par answers from the State, grid operator, and utilities. Our first responders are at full capacity with record high calls for service. We as Texans MUST demand answers.
— County Judge KP George (@JudgeKPGeorge) February 16, 2021
"As we enter sub-freezing temps (again!) we have no answers or sub-par answers from the State, grid operator, and utilities," George tweeted Monday night. "Our first responders are at full capacity with record high calls for service. We as Texans MUST demand answers."
He went on to call the state's response to the outages unacceptable.
"This is unacceptable. We have known for a week that the #ArcticFront was coming," he tweeted. "We deserve answers. This is a LIFE & DEATH situation."
I will be calling on the Texas Legislature to utilize their oversight functions on the grid, ERCOT, PUC, and energy companies ASAP. This is unacceptable. We have known for a week that the #ArcticFront was coming. We deserve answers. This is a LIFE & DEATH situation.
— County Judge KP George (@JudgeKPGeorge) February 16, 2021
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee expressed similar sentiments on Twitter, stating that "Texans are suffering and rapid action is needed."
Today I spoke with senior U.S. DOE officials, who agreed to my request to identify additional energy resources that may be brought to Texas to relieve the stress on the Texas electric grid. Texans are suffering and rapid action is needed.https://t.co/uZKL0LNAVt
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) February 16, 2021
She said she reached out to senior U.S. Department of Energy officials who agreed to her request to identify additional energy resources that may be brought to Texas to relieve the stress on the electric grid.
SEE ALSO: Gov. Abbott: Blame outages on power generators
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also put pressure on the state to answer for the mass outages.
"The State must own and explain the magnitude of these power outages across the State," he said in a Tweet.
The State must own and explain the magnitude of these power outages across the State. st
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) February 15, 2021
He went on to emphasize that ERCOT is responsible for the power grid, not the city or Harris County.
ERCOT is the traffic manager of the electric grid which reports to the State. Neither the City nor the County controls or regulates ERCOT or the power generators. That is solely the responsibility of the State. st
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) February 15, 2021
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo reminded his Twitter followers that as power outages continue, lives are at risk.
Please pray for our elderly and vulnerable populations tonight. With the 2nd consecutive night of massive power outages and frigid cold, many lives are at risk. State of Texas leaders must do better, lives depend on it.
— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) February 16, 2021
He asked the public to pray for the city's elderly and vulnerable populations, and, like other local leaders, said "State of Texas leaders must do better, lives depend on it."
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo took to Twitter to remind the public to only use 911 in a life-threatening situation as many Emergency Operations Center first responders are also without power.
I know those who have long since lost power are in an awful situation. The families of many first responders at our Emergency Operations Center are in the same position. If you are in a life-threatening situation, call 911. Otherwise please leave the lines for those most at risk.
— Lina Hidalgo (@LinaHidalgoTX) February 16, 2021
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