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Insights > Entergy Texas Winter Storm Update – 2/15/21 @ 5 p.m.
Entergy Texas Winter Storm Update – 2/15/21 @ 5 p.m.
02/15/2021
February 15, 2021 Monday, 5:00 PM
TEXAS
Entergy Texas customer are asked to voluntarily reduce their electricity usage, especially between 5 pm and 9 pm. This unusual request is due to the demand for electricity potentially exceeding the available generation due to the extreme cold and weather conditions currently impacting our service territory.
Current load forecasts are approaching an all-time peak, even greater than those experienced during the polar vortex of January 2019. The company’s reliability coordinator, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, has made this request to Entergy and other utilities in its footprint, including other utilities in our area.
Freezing rain, snow, and sleet arrived in the Entergy Texas service territory Sunday night and into Monday morning. Record-cold temperatures are expected Monday night into Tuesday morning, and extreme cold temperatures are expected to last for much of the week.
Entergy Texas’ western region is experiencing a record all-time load. High electrical power demand has caused a power shortage and issues caused by the freeze are impacting generation units and transmission lines. We continue our work to return power plants online but are facing difficulties due to the extreme cold. We have begun rotating outages to limit how long customers are affected by these outages. We have already begun rotating outages to restore customers who have been affected the longest. We will continue this rotation process until we are able to return our generation to service and MISO cancels its request for curtailment.
Key Messages:
- We implemented outages on all available circuits, with the exception of circuits feeding critical customers, which has impacted our ability to rotate outages. We have been able to find an opportunity to begin rotating some customers at this time.
- We still remain under a directive from MISO to implement load reduction, but believe we will be able to start rotating these reductions so some customers who have been off will be able to come back online.
- These outages may last several hours and it is not necessary to report your outage during this time. If you have a life-threatening emergency please call 1-8009OUTAGE, that's 1-800-968-8243.
- As we work to bring generation back into full operation, the time needed for a customer’s periodic outage should lessen, but currently the amount of load shed required is high enough that we are unable to do so.
- Because of the extreme cold temperatures, resuming to full operation is a slower than usual process.
- We are working to minimize outage times as much as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience this outage has caused and appreciate your understanding.
Safety is our number one priority. If you lose power:
- Stay away from downed power lines and assume they are energized. Report them to 1-800-9OUTAGE.
- If you have a portable generator, use it safely. DO NOT run it in an enclosed space. If connecting to the whole house, do so only if the connection has been installed by a licensed electrician to prevent back feed on to the distribution system.
- Do not open your refrigerator or freezer door. Food will stay cold much longer this way. If outside temperature is below freezing, consider placing food in an ice chest outside.
- Please stay clear of linemen as they work to safely restore power.
- Entergy employees are navigating the COVID-19 pandemic by taking additional steps. Crews will continue to practice social distancing, and we ask that customers do the same. For our safety and yours, please stay away from work zones.
- Customers without power can help in the restoration process by turning off major appliances but leaving on a lamp or other light to indicate when power is restored. Then, gradually turn other appliances to spread out the increase in power usage over a longer time. Visit entergy.com/cold to learn more.
Conserve Electricity:
Remember that extreme cold can drive increased electricity consumption. Follow these easy steps to reduce consumption and lower your usage:
- Heating can account for as much as 55% of your monthly electric bill. Setting the thermostat to 68 degrees in the winter is an easy way to reduce how much energy you use. Every degree above 68 on the thermostat can increase your bill by about 3%.
- Conserve hot water. Wrap your electric water heater with a water heater blanket that can be found at local home improvement stores and set the thermostat to 120 degrees or medium.
- Keep all doors and windows closed. Constant traffic will let out the warm air, forcing your heater to work harder to keep the room at the set temperature.
- Ensure fans are turning the right way. Fans should be run at a low speed clockwise during the winter. This helps keep the cold air from blowing down on you.
- Keep the air circulating. Don’t block heat registers or air returns with curtains or furniture.
- Leverage the sun. During the day, open your curtains and blinds to let in the warm sunlight. Close them at night to reduce heat loss.
Stay Informed:
We continuously keep our communities informed throughout a storm using the following channels:
- Download our free app for your smartphone at entergy.com/app.
- Sign up for text alerts. From your cell phone text REG to 36778.
- Visit the Entergy Storm Center website and our View Outages
- Follow us on Twitter.com/entergytx or Facebook.com/entergytx.
- Call us at 800-9OUTAGE (800-968-8243).
- Follow updates in your local news media like radio television and newspapers.
