Texas governor bans natural gas from being sold to other states as officials scramble to restore power

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) is prohibiting natural gas companies based in his state from selling across state lines, as officials scramble to restore power across vast sections of the state paralyzed by a freak winter storm.

According to the report, Abbott's order will be effective through February 21.

Texas is the only state in the U.S. that has its own power grid unconnected to other states — an arrangement that allows the state to skirt federal energy regulations. This lack of oversight has been suggested as the reason for why power plants across the state failed to properly winterize their equipment ahead of the disastrous storm.

Abbott has also sought to blame overreliance on wind turbines as a factor in the blackouts; however, wind farms are actually outperforming forecasts and expected to return to full capacity ahead of other facilities, and officials have confirmed the majority of power loss is due to equipment failures at natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants.