Power returns for most Texans

Rolling, controlled power outages are now coming to an end for hundreds of thousands of Texans.

Utility providers were instructed Wednesday by ERCOT to begin restoring power that was previously dropped from the electricity grid.

Approximately 150,000 customers remain without power due to equipment damage.

“Our personnel will continue working 24/7 to restore power to the remaining customers,” electricity provider Oncor said in a statement. “We recognize the hardships this power emergency has caused our customers & communities. We appreciate their patience as we awaited the return of electric generation & protected the TX electric grid.”

Oncor said they expect it will take some time for their outage map to reflect the latest developments because of the large amounts of system activity.

Oncor said they will continue following ERCOT’s instructions and additional updates will be announced on social media.

Previously ==================

February 16, 2021

No power for millions of Texans for yet another day

There are falling temps and rising tempers across Texas as yet another day passes without power for millions of Texans. Perhaps as many as 12 million people in Texas are without power.

It’s estimated that 10-15% of outages might be restored by mid-afternoon, but the rest of Texas might not see electricity for another agonizing day. Power generation hitting the grid this afternoon will be almost all wind power. Still, over a million will remain without power just in the Houston area alone. Lawmakers in the State Capitol can’t work due to no power. The Austin area is at a stand-still.

Eight people in the Houston area have lost their lives related to the power outage. The George Brown Convention, which serves as a warming center, is completely full. Lakewood Church, Gallery Furniture and others have opened their doors to warm frozen residents.

Galveston county has requested refrigerated trucks to deal with an unexpected number of deaths related to the situation.

Dallas has seen its lowest temperatures in more than 75 years.

The state’s power grid experienced a systemwide failure Monday morning as demand surged due to the historic winter conditions across the state. But make no mistake - the vast majority of this disaster could have been avoided. Hell, I knew we were in for extreme cold a week ago. How the hell do you not anticipate that a wind turbine is going to freeze??

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which controls the Texas energy grid, declared an “energy emergency alert three,” also called an EEA 3, early Monday, as the third of three alert phases. In the first phase, the state looks to get electricity from other grids. The second stage shuts down large industrial users who’ve agreed to cut power in an emergency. The third phase is rotating outages. Outages are necessary to avoid turning off power to places like hospitals, police stations, fire stations, water and wastewater treatment facilities.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday warned that all of Texas faces an unprecedented winter storm and issued a state disaster declaration. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state of Texas and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts.

Over 4 million customers were without power Tuesday morning across Texas, per poweroutage.us.