INQUIRY COMING INTO POWER OUTAGES IN TEXAS

Federal regulators on Tuesday said they will open an inquiry into power outages in Texas and the Midwest due to extreme cold weather. The Federal energy regulatory Commission (Ferc) and the North American electric reliability Corp. (Nerc) will work with other federal agencies, states, regional entities and electric utilities to identify what affected the performance of the bulk-power system and solutions for addressing those problems. Sub-zero cold has left around 5.3 million customers without power across the u.s. due to winter storms, with Texas the hardest hit with around 4.3 million customers affected, according to local power companies. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, shown, on Tuesday called for reform of ERCOT, the state’s electric grid operator after it received widespread criticism for not preparing for the extreme weather.