Oncor defends decisions about who may get what not in North Texas
Many of the people who have been without power the longest want to know why the burden is not shared. FOX 4 asked Oncor for a better explanation.
DALLAS – Power is slowly returning to more North Texans, but there were still 450,000 customers without electricity as of Wednesday afternoon across the region.
More than 2.6 million people across the state are still without power, and it is not clear when the power will be fully restored.
It all stems from power generation. ERCOT says it can not even get the water they need to have some of the power plants delivered.
But that has not stopped people from asking why more can not be done to spread forced custody. Days in the dark and North Texans doing what they can to stay warm.
ERCOT continues to call for reducing the distribution of electricity. In North Texas, that’s the job of Oncor.
“We can not deliver power if there is no power to deliver,” said Oncor spokeswoman Kerri Dunn.
MORE: ERCOT says winter power stations are optional, and power will only be restored at least Thursday
Dunn says the power recovery some have seen was actually due to an overnight reduction in demand and not an increase in generation.
“If you have power now, take advantage. Charge your phones,” she said. “Try to get heat. Eat food, but there is still a possibility that you will lose strength.”
Power generation is not something that Oncor can control.
“We are not delivering power. We are delivering power,” Dunn said.
Oncor also decides to whom they deliver it. The continuous interruptions that people have experienced are because service to a particular home or business has been identified as non-critical.
It makes customers who are freezing feel like they have a dead end.
People wanted to know why Oncor is no longer getting creative, such as turning on the lights in hospitals, but interrupting the uninterrupted homes and businesses that share the same part of the network.
LINK: Oncor Interruption Map
“You have whole neighborhoods that are outside. You have people who are scared to death in their house, and yet I have buildings in the city center that are on fire all night in an empty office space,” Steve Noviello said. “Why is Oncor not taking the unprecedented step of saying we are going to turn off the power for people who are wasting it?”
“It’s completely separate,” Dunn said. “The direction here is that we deliver cargo. And cargo can not be loaded to the individual address.”
No, this only happens if you do not pay your bill.
“The complaint we get is that our viewers feel that you are enforcing conservation on residents and not on businesses. How do you respond?” Vra Noviello.
“It’s very likely they have their own generational backup to keep the light on,” Dunn said. “They are not exempt from what we are currently going through.”
Another question asked is whether people will have to pay the Oncor delivery fees since Oncor did not deliver.
Oncor said the fee is based on the power they provide. So if the lights were out, your Oncor fee would be lower.
RELATED: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urges state lawmakers to investigate ERCOT