Outages plague the Highland Lakes

Nearly 109,000 Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) customers were without power Monday as a major winter storm wreaked havoc on the state’s self-sufficient electrical grid during the weekend, forcing it into an emergency state of operations.

Frigid temperatures and expected additional precipitation had the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates Texas’ grid, directing service providers like PEC to reduce demand through service interruptions, which were expected to occur throughout the PEC service territory throughout Monday and possibly into Tuesday as well.

As of noon Monday, 108,687 of the cooperative’s 350,964 meters were being affected by a reported 1,423 outages as just 69 percent of the service territory still had power. Other service providers were also reporting huge numbers of customers without power, including Austin Energy with 178,173, Oncor with 37,269 and Bluebonnet Electric with 20,416 customers all lacking electrical service.

ERCOT announced planned service interruptions, which were ordered beginning at 1:25 a.m. Monday, would continue “as long as the regional grid operator experiences peak demand.”

If an interruption occurs in your area, please take proactive steps for power restoration. All electrical appliances affected by the service disruption should be turned off, as well as circuit breakers to major appliances.

Once power is restored, members can avoid electrical overload by turning their appliances back on in 15-minute intervals.

PEC will communicate to members when the emergency service interruptions end.

Residents are urged not to call 911 for power outage issues but to refer to their service providers instead. For Pedernales Electric Cooperative customers, call 1 (888) 883-3379.

Please go to pec.coop for the latest information, and follow PEC on Facebook and Twitter for the latest event updates.