Slowly We Awaken: As of Thursday (Feb. 18) at 2pm, Austin Energy reported that power had been restored to all but around 50,000 customers, but could not predict when those would be restored or if further outages would be required. "I wish bringing everyone back on line was as easy as pushing a button or flipping a switch, but it's not," said AE General Manager Jackie Sargent. Texas Almost Blew It: Electric grid operator ERCOT told reporters Texas avoided a catastrophic, grid-destroying blackout – and weeks or months without power – by minutes, maybe seconds, early Monday morning. ERCOT said Thursday that enough power has been restored to the grid to avoid further long-term outages, though rolling blackouts were still possible.