Rolling power outages ordered statewide
It's been a rough go for a lot of people who are experiencing rolling blackouts.
DALLAS - There are rolling power blackouts happening across North Texas and the state. Texas’ electrical grid operator ordered them because there was too much demand for electricity in the record cold.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT ordered rolling outages beginning around 1:30 a.m. Monday when it reached its highest emergency alert level.
That means providers are intentionally cutting off power to select neighborhoods for 15 to 45 minutes at a time. However, some FOX 4 viewers are reporting outages that are lasting much longer.
It also means traffic lights and other infrastructure is being temporarily cut off.
RELATED: Crews out monitoring North Texas roadways, drivers urged to stay home if possible
Advertisement
ERCOT said the supply of natural gas to power plants is being limited and some wind turbines are frozen. So, keeping up with the amount of power being used across Texas is even more difficult.
Texas set a new a new winter record for energy demand Sunday night breaking a record set three years ago.
With temperatures expected to hover around single digits throughout the morning, demand will stay high.
ERCOT said the rolling outages will likely continue throughout the morning and could last longer if providers cannot catch up.
RELATED: North Texas gets several inches of snow, with single digit temperatures expected Monday morning
Texas' grid operator is urging people to conserve as much power as possible.
There are some crucial things you can do like keeping your thermostat set at 68 degrees, avoiding using large appliances and turning off non-essential lights and appliances.
If you do lose power, some things you can do to conserve heat are closing blinds and curtains, stuffing towels or rags in cracks under doors and closing off rooms that aren’t being used.
https://ift.tt/3amU6Vi
Business
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Rolling power outages ordered across Texas as energy demand reaches record high - FOX 4 Dallas"
Post a Comment