Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has criticized US energy companies whose power plants were not able to operate in extremely cold weather in the US state of Texas and failed, causing blackouts that resulted in deaths of residents who were deprived of power necessary to keep their households warm.
"This is natural gas plants, largely, that weren't weatherized. They could've been. It costs money, and the trade off was made, and it didn't work out, and it's tragic that it has lead to people dying," Gates told CNN late on Saturday.
Snowfalls, sub-zero temperatures and biting wind continue to test the United States' southwest and Texas, in particular, for a few weeks now. Earlier on Saturday, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesperson Tiffany Young told Sputnik that nearly 15 million local residents were affected by the cold-caused disruption of water supply systems.
Tens of thousands of households are still without electricity. According to media reports, 58 people have died in 10 states, a majority of them in Texas, because of the winter storm.