Texas officials: Winter storm may result in outages, despite winterization efforts
AUSTIN, Texas - State agencies held a joint Zoom call on the winter storm Wednesday afternoon, where ERCOT announced they’ve issued a "Watch" alert, effective now through Sunday. That is their highest notification level, when it comes to energy demand.
"We believe that our highest expected demand will be on Friday morning at 8 AM," said ERCOT interim CEO Brad Jones.
ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas say they are taking action ahead of time to ensure the grid is reliable, and project there will be enough power generation to keep the lights on.
"We will be operating with an additional margin of safety by having more reserves online, and by using an abundance of caution by bringing more reserves online sooner rather than later," said PUC chair Peter Lake.
However, officials say the weather itself—freezing rain, ice, sleet, snow, wind and frigid temperatures—are all likely to trigger outages despite all the reforms and winterization efforts since last February’s storm.
"This will not stop the ice from falling on trees and trees on power lines, and that will not stop the power lines from falling and collapsing," said Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd.
If you lose power, you should report that outage to your local utility company, like Austin Energy—which has several hundred crew members on standby.
"We are ready. We are prepared. Should we encounter outages, we have crews ready to restore power quickly and safely," said Jenn Herber, Public Information & Marketing Program Manager with Austin Energy.
The ice is also expected to wreak havoc on the roads, with state crews putting down half a billion gallons of brine on major highways.
"When the temperature drops to a certain point, all the pre-treatment that we’re doing won’t even matter because the roads can still freeze over," said Veronica Beyer, Media Relations Director for TxDOT.
TxDOT and the Texas Department of Public Safety are both urging Texans to stay home during the storm. Still, state troopers say they’ll be ready.
"We’ll be ready to respond with whatever they need, which could be traffic enforcement, accident response, and even closing down roads if that becomes necessary," said DPS Press Secretary Ericka Miller.
Officials stressed Wednesday that Texans should have food and supplies on hand in case you do lose power.
Kidd urged Texans to be very mindful of carbon monoxide, which contributed to many of the deaths during last February’s winter storm. If you have a generator, never operate it in or near your home.
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MORE HEADLINES:
Texas Winter Storm: What Austin area can expect
ERCOT issuing Winter Weather Watch in Texas through Sunday
How to build an Emergency Kit
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