State officials are asking residents to limit their use of power and natural gas resources from Sunday to Thursday, as the upcoming winter storm is expected to cause a huge demand for Texas’ power grid.
Residents are asked not to set their thermostats above 68 degrees, close their blinds and curtains, pull out unused items and limit the use of washing machines and dishwashers during rush hours in the mornings and evenings.
In response to extreme winter weather conditions, residents in the area may experience interruptions during the next 36 hours.
Government Greg Abbott issued a disaster statement for the whole of Texas on Friday afternoon as a massive winter storm threatens to wreak havoc on the state’s electricity network, power lines and roads. Texas’ power grid may be trying to keep the record-setting demand for electricity in the winter of Texans warm this weekend, which is testing its capacity and could lead to an uninterrupted outage in Texas, or ‘rotating outages’.
CoServ said in a statement Saturday afternoon that the rotary interruptions have not yet been ordered by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, (ERCOT), which manages the electrical network and manages the deregulated market for 75 percent of the state.
If ERCOT deems it necessary, customers of Oncor and other utilities will experience similar interruptions.
According to the news release, these interruptions will last within 15 minutes and can happen several times within a 24 hour period. If you have signed up for interruption alerts through CoServ, you will receive an SMS or email indicating an interruption at your residence. If it is an interruption, you will see a red box across the service area with a red message indicating that mandatory interruptions are in effect. Visit http://bit.ly/3phM3ND for additional information on the interruptions and how to sign up for alerts.
CoServ has implemented its emergency response plan and asks all customers to reduce their energy consumption. Additional updates will be posted on CoServ’s website, www.coserv.com.
The rollout disruptions are related to the snowstorm approaching North Texas, which is under a Winter Storm warning until Monday night. The national weather service predicts a winter mix that will start somewhere around midnight and turn to snow on Sunday morning. The heaviest snow is expected from about 6pm Sunday to 6am Monday, followed by dangerous cold winds as low as -16 degrees. The weather service expects a 50% chance of 4 inches of snow in DFW.