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 in February.

Public Utilities Commission chair DeAnn Walker is the highest-ranking official to step down in the aftermath of one of the largest power outages in U.S. history.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Walker to the commission in 2017.

She faced withering criticism from state lawmakers probing the electric grid breakdowns and lack of communication with the public over the approaching storm and how the state responded once it hit.