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Texas Grid Relief: Backup Generators Deployed Amid Outages

1/26/2026

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Summary

Story summary

On January 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to deploy backup generators to relieve Texas' grid.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said backup generation is needed to prevent blackouts, citing 35 GW of unused capacity nationwide.
The order excludes hospitals and emergency services.
ERCOT reported normal grid conditions as of January 25, 2026, despite 83,000 Texans experiencing outages.

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Story summary

On January 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to deploy backup generators to relieve Texas' grid.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said backup generation is needed to prevent blackouts, citing 35 GW of unused capacity nationwide.
The order excludes hospitals and emergency services.
ERCOT reported normal grid conditions as of January 25, 2026, despite 83,000 Texans experiencing outages.