Roleplaying begins in Texas during a massive winter storm

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Texas’s electricity network provider put a power outage in most parts of the state on Monday after a severe winter storm brought an unprecedented demand for electricity and forced several power-generating units offline.

The power outages began centrally at 1:25 p.m. The Texas Electric Reliability Council said they are likely to “last all morning and that they can start until this state of emergency comes to an end.”

“Every network operator and every electrical business is now fighting to restore power,” ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness said in a press release.

The power outages are designed to reduce the demand for electricity until the capacity can be restored. ERCOT officials indicated Sunday that they would be needed, saying they would likely last between 10 minutes and 45 minutes at a time.

The storm that hit Texas is rare for its magnitude and intensity. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for all 254 provinces on Sunday. Cities like Dallas and Austin had single-digit temperatures on Monday morning. Near the coast in places like Houston and Corpus Christi, the weather was in their teens.

ERCOT announced on Sunday night that it had set a winter record for the demand for power and reached 69,150 megawatts between 18 and 19 hours. ERCOT said Monday morning that 30,000 megawatts of power generation was forced from the system. The network operator also said it would provide an update at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

The storm shut down much of the state. Many roads are icy, many schools have closed and at the request of Gov. Greg Abbott, President Joe Biden has declared a federal state of emergency across the state.