State Senator Steve Ogden said if Entergy Texas doesn't restore power to parts of the Brazos Valley by Wednesday, the state will step in with a different provider.

Because Entergy also operates outside of Texas, it isn't affiliated with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the agency that governs electric usage in Texas. This prevents Entergy from having access to other Texas electric providers.

But Tuesday Ogden left no doubt that desperate times call for desperate measures. "They can't because they're not a member of ERCOT, but that problem can be overcome and will be overcome tomorrow if Entergy doesn't get power to Caldwell, Somerville and Navasota," said Ogden.

"Entergy tells me they got their generators up and that they're energizing the lines. They've energized up to Bryan now and should be over at Caldwell by tomorrow," he said.

"The plan is, if they are not able to do that by tomorrow, then we'll go ahead and ask the PUC (Public Utility Commission of Texas) to give BTU (Bryan Texas Utilities) permission to supply power to Caldwell."

Entergy residents have been without power since Saturday when Hurricane Ike made landfall.