Texas officials order blackouts after record demand on state power grid

HOUSTON – Authorities ordered blackouts across Texas after record demand and failed power plants combined to cause problems for the state’s power grid.

The Texas Electric Reliability Council is responsible for maintaining a balance between supply and demand on the state’s electricity grid. An agency spokesman said a record 69,222 megawatt demand was met between 7 pm and 8 pm Sunday. This was followed by several plants that went down rapidly, he said. At 1:25 am, the agency activated its highest alert level when energy reserves fell, he said.

declared an EEE 3. Energy conservation is critical. Rotating outages are underway to reduce demand on the electrical system. We asked Texans to put security first during this time. Traffic lights and other infrastructure may be temporarily without power. 01:25:40 150221

– ERCOT (@ERCOT_ISO) February 15, 2021

The spokesman said ERCOT instructed the transmission companies to reduce the load on the state grid by designated amounts based on the amount of energy they consume from the system. He said that it is up to the transmission companies to decide how best to reduce their consumption with the network.

ERCOT officials said there are about 2 million homes in Texas that have been without power since 10:30 am on Monday.

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The interruptions are expected to continue until at least Tuesday morning, officials said.

Kenny Mercado, executive vice president of CenterPoint Energy, which transmits power to most of southeastern Texas, said blackouts can no longer be switched because the supply is unavailable to move power around the system.

“This is a very serious situation and we don’t want the system to go down,” said Mercado. “We have to maintain a balance. We have to keep load demand balanced in Houston, and not only that, but balanced across the state of Texas, and we are watching very closely. “

Mercado said that CenterPoint customers who have power are part of the emergency service areas, which include things like water and sewage, hospitals, police and emergency centers.

“We have all these important loads that we have to preserve,” said Mercado.

Mercado said there were about 500,000 homes in the CenterPoint service area that had been without power since 9:15 am on Monday.

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CenterPoint released the following tweets and a statement on Monday.

UPDATE: We continue to comply with @ERCOT_ISOrequest to reduce power supply due to the emergence of power generation across the state. As a result, customers may experience interruptions that are longer than previously anticipated. We appreciate your patience. #hounews

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

Elétrico Texas’ electrical system is experiencing an unprecedented power outage due to extreme winter weather that affects the entire state, including Houston and the region. Texans’ electricity consumption needs have far exceeded current power generation. #houwx #hounews 1/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

This morning, @ERCOT_ISO it declared a statewide power generation deficit emergency and asked electricity distribution companies to reduce the load through controlled outages in an effort to balance electricity supply and demand. #houwx #hounews 2/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

How CenterPoint Energy made preparations to follow @ERCOT_ISOTo reduce the load, we were predicting interruptions from 15 minutes to more than an hour. #houwx #hounews 3/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

This morning, the conditions for power generation were, and continue to be, very serious; @ERCOT_ISO it needs electric companies to reduce their load to a higher level and for longer than originally thought, which in turn is resulting in longer interruptions for customers. #houwx #hounews 4/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

Unfortunately, if you are a customer experiencing an interruption, you must be prepared to run out of energy for at least the rest of the day. #houwx #hounews 5/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

We appreciate the patience of our customers as we continue to follow @ERCOT_ISOguideline to reduce the load and implement controlled outages in the Greater Houston area. #houwx #hounews 6/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

For all our customers who have energy, we continue to ask you to conserve energy as much as possible to help in this situation. #houwx #hounews 7/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

As you may know, CenterPoint Energy is a transmission and distribution company and does not generate energy, so the lack of power generation capacity that we face is not something that we can address directly. #houwx #hounews 8/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

We know that this is a very difficult situation for our customers, but we are doing our part, based on @ERCOT_ISOguideline, to achieve a balance between energy supply and demand across the state. #houwx #hounews 9/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

We appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding as we do what we can to manage this significant statewide power supply situation. #houwx #hounews 10/10

– Energy CenterPoint (@CNPalerts) February 15, 2021

Here is the full statement from CenterPoint:

“The Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT), which is responsible for scheduling power and ensuring the reliability of the Texas power grid, has declared a statewide power shortage emergency. As a result, immediately after ERCOT’s policy of restricting energy delivery to customers, CenterPoint Energy initiated controlled outages in its service territory. CenterPoint Energy complies with the ERCOT directive to reduce the load at this time. Due to the level of this requirement, customers may experience interruptions that are longer than previously anticipated. Controlled outages are emergency measures designed to avoid more widespread power outages for customers. Like other electricity utilities across Texas, CenterPoint Energy is shutting down or reducing electricity in its service territory to achieve the load reduction required by ERCOT. CenterPoint Energy will continue to update customers through local media and its social media channels, Twitter (@CNPalerts) and the Facebook. The company calls on consumers and businesses to reduce electricity use to the lowest possible level. For steps that customers can take to reduce energy use, visit http://www.ercot.com/about/conservation. “

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Todd Burrer, vice president of Texas municipal utility districts for Inframark, said the water cuts to the MUDs in and around the Houston area that are managed by his company are related to power cuts. He said that diesel generators that are normally used in a situation like this cannot keep the energy needed to keep the water flowing. He said the water is unlikely to be restored until the power is restored.

There are about 400 MUDs in the Houston area.

See how you can track power outages across Southeast Texas.

CenterPoint Energy serves most of the Houston area and southeastern Texas. Click here to see the company’s outage tracker. You can report interruptions by calling 713-207-2222.
Entergy serve parts of southeastern Texas to the north and east of Houston. Click here to see the company’s outage tracker. You can report interruptions by calling 800-968-8243.
TNMP serves an area near Manvel to Texas City and from Sweeny to Holiday Lakes. Click here to see the company’s outage tracker. You can report interruptions by calling 888-866-7456.

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