Natural gas is a by-product of much oil extraction, and commonly used for heating, cooking, etc.... Propane is also commonly used, in more rural locations. Bu

Natural gas is a by-product of much oil extraction, and commonly used for heating, cooking, etc.... Propane is also commonly used, in more rural locations. But what Texas has is much higher requirements for air conditioning, which can't be easily gas-powered at the level of individual houses. Thus the higher electrical energy requirements. Now, you can run gas turbines at the utility level to generate electricity, but that's much less common at the level of individual homes.