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Tuesday, November 10, 2026Nov 10

After the lights went out in Texas for days, will companies keep moving there?

Oncor apprentice lineman Brendan Waldon repairs a utility pole that was damaged by the winter storm that passed through Texas Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Odessa, Texas. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP)
Oncor apprentice lineman Brendan Waldon repairs a utility pole that was damaged by the winter storm that passed through Texas Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Odessa, Texas. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP) Oncor apprentice lineman Brendan Waldon repairs a utility pole that was damaged by the winter storm that passed through Texas Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Odessa, Texas. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP)

For years, people and companies have flocked to Texas for economic reasons, from fast job growth to no state income taxes.

Don’t overlook another strength of Texas’ pro-business climate: abundant, cheap energy.

That’s fueled the so-called Texas miracle, ensuring that essential services could keep up with the population growth.

But Texas will have to rewrite the narrative after a brutal winter storm left over 4 million residents freezing in the dark. Nearly 5 million more in Mexico lost power, often due to problems with natural gas supply.

The power outages led to dozens of deaths, billions in damages and questions about grid reliability and Texas’ deregulated electric market.