Governor Abbott urges Texans to trust power grid ahead of dangerous cold weather

Addressing concerns about Texas’ power grid before the cold front expected Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott held a news conference with state officials to ease Texans’ minds that they will have electricity.

Abbott was joined Wednesday in Austin by Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, Public Utility Commission Chairman Peter Lake and new ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas.

The deadly winter storm of February 2021, which killed more than 200 people in Texas and 11 in Tarrant County, overwhelmed the state’s power grid and left 70% of Texans without power.

ERCOT issued a watch Wednesday morning, which is its highest level of preparation and readiness for the cold weather, Vegas said.

In the Fort Worth area, temperatures are expected to fall below 20 degrees by 5 p.m. Thursday, with wind chills in the single digits. There’s a slight chance of a wintry mix of snow flurries and freezing drizzle before 11 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

The low temp Thursday night is forecast to be around 11 degrees, and temperatures won’t climb above the 20s until Saturday.

Vegas said a high demand for electricity is expected but ERCOT is prepared.

“In order to make sure that all market participants are prepared for the conditions that we’re expecting by issuing a watch and ensuring that we have all of the tools in our toolbox available to deal with the service demand,” Vegas said.

The highest demand is expected to occur from Thursday evening to Saturday morning, Vegas said.

“The highest demands during this period we expect are going to occur on Friday morning, expect that to hit near 70,000 megawatts,” Vegas said. “With all the available resources performing as planned, we are forecasting to have near 85,000 megawatts of supply available to meet that demand.”

Lake said the PUC will reduce industrial demand before asking homes to conserve power.

“The grid is ready and reliable,” Lake said. “We expect to have sufficient generation to meet demand throughout this entire winter weather event.”

Lake also said the state will have proper generation for the incoming weather.

“We will continue the consistent communication between our partner agencies, including the Railroad Commission, TxDOT, and of course, ERCOT. All of these reforms are about prioritizing people over profits.”

Lake said due to high wind, any localized loss of power could be due to falling branches, but preparations were put in place for this specific weather. Even if there are localized outages, he wanted to explain that it does not mean ERCOT and the state don’t have sufficient generators.

“Our poles and wires, companies have mobile generators ready to go. They’ve rescheduled maintenance to make sure their wires are available,” Lake said. “And generators have also rescheduled maintenance to make sure that every generator available in Texas is ready to go.”

Kidd, who will is leading the response effort to the cold, said the grid is good, but that should not stop preparations to protect vehicles and homes.

Kidd said most of the state should stay dry as there is little precipitation expected and it will be light in the Panhandle.

“It’s a dangerous storm coming our way,” Kidd said. “Any flat tire, any bad battery problems and being stuck out in this dangerous cold can be life threatening.”

Many local governments have started making plans, opening warming centers in their cities, Kidd said.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is the leading cause of death in these times, Kidd said.

“These are preventable deaths,” he said. “Do not burn wood or gas-burning appliances inside your home without proper ventilation. There should be no carbon monoxide deaths.”

This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Governor Abbott urges Texans to trust power grid ahead of dangerous cold weather."