Texas top utility regulator quits in fallout over blackouts

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas' top utilities regulator resigned Monday in the widening fallout from blackouts triggered by an unusually heavy and widespread winter storm that left millions in the state without power and water for days.

DeAnn Walker, the chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission, is the highest-ranking official to step down in the aftermath of one of the largest power failures in U.S. history.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Walker to the commission in 2017, and she is one of two commissioners who used to work in his office. In a letter to Abbott, Walker said she accepted her role in the outages but that others should acknowledge their responsibility, including gas companies and lawmakers.

“I believe others should come forward in dignity and courage and acknowledge how their actions or inactions contributed to the situation," Walker wrote.

She resigned the same day Texas' largest and oldest power cooperative announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and as the state's attorney general launched an investigation into one electricity provider, Griddy, whose customers incurred massive bills during February’s winter storm.

Abbott, a Republican, blamed the power failures on the state’s grid manager, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, commonly known as ERCOT. But the three-member commission appointed by Abbott has oversight authority over ERCOT.

Abbott's spokesman Renae Eze said in a short statement that the governor thanks Walker “for her years of service to the State of Texas." The statement did not reflect on Walker's performance ahead of the outages.

Walker struggled in two lengthy appearances before legislative panels investigating the state's electric grid breakdowns, the commission's response and the lack of...