- [Dale] The power blackoutin Texas has many asking

how it could've happened tosuch an energy rich state.

- What is going on right nowis completely unacceptable.

- [Dale] In Houston,

the so-called Energy Capital of the World,

residents lined up for supplies

as officials told residentswith power to boil water.

- How can we boil water?We don't even have power.

- We have been withoutpower for 60 hours now

and without water for about 24.

- My family and I, we've beenin the dark since Sunday.

- [Dale] The short answerto why the blackout occurred

is that Texas wasn't preparedfor what by Texas standards

was an extremely rare,extremely cold weather event.

Power station components simplyfroze and stopped working.

- Every source of powerthat the state of Texas has

has been compromised,

whether it be with regardto systems freezing up

or equipment failures.

- [Dale] But the Texas power grid problem

coming after the rolling blackoutsin California this summer

could become a patternmore states will experience

as experts warn that America'saging infrastructure,

along with increasingreliance on green energy,

causes electrical grids tofail more and more often

in extreme weather events.

A Congressional study

showed America's electrical reliability

has been declining for decades

and is among the worstin the developed world.

Many cities, like New York,

have trouble keeping up with demand.

- ConEd has the same issue

that the rest of the utilities have,

which is they had never envisioned

the kind of electrical growththat the city has experienced.

- [Dale] Experts say the problem

is that maintaining andupgrading critical infrastructure

is not a popularexpenditure for politicians.

Power grids don't vote.

But the people who rely on them do

and America's increasinglyunreliable power grid

is starting to hit home.

Dale Hurd, CBN News.