Since Winter Storm Uri hit all 254 Texas counties in February 2021, Texas has added a total of nearly 40,000 MW of power – enough to power more than eight million homes across the state.
Weather experts predict the State of Texas will face its first strong winter weather system of 2026 starting Friday, January 23, including below-freezing temperatures and regions across Texas facing snow, ice, and freezing rain.
Governor Greg Abbott’s message to Texans is simple: Remain weather-aware, and rest assured that the Texas power grid is ready to meet the electricity demand that will inevitability surge during this weekend’s severe cold snap.
In advance of expected winter weather impacts across the state, Governor Abbott announced on Tuesday, January 20, that he has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to activate numerous state emergency response resources to support all weather response operations. He urges Texans to review winter weather safety tips by visiting TexasReady.gov, check road conditions at DriveTexas.org, find warming centers opened and operated by local officials at tdem.texas.gov/warm, and find general preparedness information at tdem.texas.gov/prepare.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has also released a series of safety reminders:
In the last five years, Texas has added more than 40,000 MW to the grid – enough electricity to power at least eight million homes across the state.
In 2023, Governor Abbott made a Texas-sized investment to strengthen the state’s critical power infrastructure. At the conclusion of the 88th Texas Legislative Session, he signed into law Senate Bill 2627 — the Powering Texas Forward Act – which ensures safe, reliable energy for future generations of Texans.
This pivotal law created the Texas Energy Fund (TxEF), which provides low-interest loans and grants to finance the construction, maintenance, modernization, and operation of power generation facilities in Texas. Since its official launch in 2024, the TxEF has:
- Allocated $2.65 billion for loans to support 3,564 megawatts (MW) of new, reliable power generation for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid, enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
- Selected 29 projects to strengthen electric reliability and resiliency and facility weatherization for the nearly 919,000 Texas customers served by grids outside the ERCOT region.
Additionally, ERCOT anticipates 8,800 MW of new gas-fired generation by the end of 2029, driven by incentives from TxEF.