Oil & gas companies made billions off the Feb. ’21 freeze, contributed millions to politicians and avoided regulation. Could the lights go out again?

Not surprisingly, a lack of fuel — mainly, natural gas — was the second-leading cause for power plant outages in last year’s storm after equipment freeze-ups, according to federal regulators.

“Your power plant could be prepared and ready to run, but if you don’t have any fuel coming in, that’s still a problem,” said Beth Garza, a power grid expert at the R Street Institute.