The CEO of ERCOT, the Texas energy agency that shut down the power on Monday amid a brutal winter storm that killed at least two dozen people and left millions without heat, said Tuesday night he had no idea when the power for the state will not be restored. .
Bill Magness said in an interview with CBS Austin on Tuesday night that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is avoiding a potentially bigger crisis by shutting down the power grid.
People are waiting in line to fill up propane tanks on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 in Houston.
(AP)
“The reason these interruptions have to exist is that the electrical system has to be managed where supply and demand are in balance at all times,” Magness said. “If you have a huge imbalance in the supply of electricity and demand, you could have catastrophic failures in the system.”
ERCOT drivers are about 75% of Texas’ power grid. Magness said the systems affected by eclipses could potentially take a very long time to repair and could be ‘very dangerous to humans’.
“The only way we can keep it in balance and control it is to take breaks,” Magness said. “Our top priority is to turn the power back on for as many people as we can, but we need to do it in a safe and reliable way to keep the system running so we can use it in the future.”
STAY SAFE DURING EXTENDED POWER PERFORMANCES: WHAT TO DO IN THE ABSENCE OF COOLING, COOLING AND ELECTRICITY
Magness could not say definitively when the power would resume, but he hoped many customers would restore at least partial service later Wednesday or Thursday.
Magness also defends the decision to enforce interruptions “to prevent an event that would be even more catastrophic than the horrific events we saw this week.”
More than 3 million homes and businesses remained powerless for the third day of a historic winter storm hit by the state.
ERCOT said early Wednesday it had restored 600,000 households’ power, while 2.7 million still did not have power.
In Austin, hundreds braved the cold Wednesday to stock up on food, creating empty shelves and long queues, reports FOX 7.
“There really is no disappointment for some of the misery that people in the area are experiencing,” said Bob Oravec, chief forecaster at the National Weather Service, referring to Texas.
More than 100 million people live in areas covered by some warning, wait or advice for the winter weather, the weather service said.
People are waiting in line to buy groceries on Monday, February 15, 2021 in Houston.
(AP)
More than two dozen people died in extreme weather this week, some struggling to find warmth in their homes. In the Houston area, one family in their garage succumbed to carbon monoxide due to car exhaust fumes. Another died when they used a fireplace to warm up.
FRIKE WEATHER SCRATCHES MORE SPORTS OPPORTUNITIES IN TEXAS, OKLAHOMA
Scientists say that the polar vortex, a weather pattern that usually stays with the Arctic, is increasingly spilling into lower latitudes and sticking longer. The winter storm erupted in neighboring states and even Mexico. Utility programs from Minnesota to Mississippi have implemented glowing power barriers to ease the burden on power networks to meet the extreme demand for heat and electricity.
Texas suffered the worst U.S. power outages. Officials have requested 60 generators from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and plan to prioritize hospitals and nursing homes. The state has opened 35 shelters for more than 1,000 residents, the agency said.
The weather also caused major disruptions in the water systems in the Texas cities of Houston, Fort Worth, Galveston, Corpus Christi and in Memphis, Tennessee and Shreveport, Louisiana. for patients and staff, reports KSLA News. In Houston, residents have been told to boil their water – if they have the power to do so – due to a large drop in water pressure associated with the weather.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In Abilene, Texas, firefighters were hampered by low water pressure when they tried to put out a house fire this week, reports the Abilene Reporter-News.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.