ERCOT asks Austin Energy to shed more power, could mean outages for emergency services

Ryan Autullo Tony Plohetski
Austin American-Statesman

Editor's note: The Statesman is making this story about Austin winter weather free for everyone to read as a public service. If you don't already, please subscribe today at statesman.com/subscribenow.

The state corporation in control of Texas' electric grid asked Austin Energy and other providers Tuesday morning to shed more power, underscoring the gravity of the ongoing electricity situation. But local officials warned that doing so could mean pulling the plug on circuits used to power critical infrastructure such as hospitals and emergency response stations.

In an interview with the American-Statesman, Austin City Council Member Leslie Pool said the city pushed back against the request from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Pool said she was briefed on the request by an assistant city attorney who was part of the conversation with the agency, commonly known as ERCOT.

"They may have to turn off the circuits for emergency infrastructure," Pool said. "We have literally shed everything that we can."

Public Utility Commission spokesman Andrew Barlow confirmed Pool's account, adding that the request was not Austin-specific but that providers statewide were asked to "curtail load." Barlow said power that had been restored late Monday statewide was reduced after facilities that typically generate electricity were unable to do so because of freezing temperatures and weather-related conditions.

Barlow said he did not immediately know how much power ERCOT was asking the city to take offline.

More:Austin power outage updates: Thousands still without power throughout Central Texas

In Austin, nearly half are without power

The request to the city to shed more power came as nearly 220,000 Austin homes were without energy. That's about 43% of the utilities' customer base.

Isaiah Buckram sits in his car to warm up outside his home on Garden Street in East Austin on Tuesday during a power outage caused by the winter storm. Buckram said his home has been without power since early Monday morning.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said he is frustrated and demanding answers from ERCOT.

"ERCOT has to explain how millions of Texans are without power," he said. "Rolling outages are not that. There have to be systemic changes. This is happening every 10 years, and there's got to be a better plan."

Roughly 200,000 Austin Energy customers woke up without power Monday morning, as an extraordinary winter storm hit Texas and shut down energy plants the state relies on for electric sources. ERCOT, which controls the electric grid that powers most of Texas, required cities to shed power to avoid overtaxing the grid.

On Sunday, Austin Energy warned customers about rotating outages that would spread the no-power burden throughout the city for periods lasting between 10 and 40 minutes. But it didn't happen that way. Many homes have been in the dark for more than 30 hours, while others have maintained power.

Across the state:More than 4.3 million Texans without power, according to utility tracker

A letter obtained by the American-Statesman from Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent to City Council members addressed the failed plan.

The memo from Monday said Austin Energy did not expect the "immense strain on the electric grid" that would require such a massive load-shedding event. As Austin Energy began deploying the rotating outages, the amount of load shed required by ERCOT rapidly reached the city utility's maximum capability.

Circuits used to power critical infrastructure have stayed on, meaning homes near facilities such as hospitals, 911 centers and fire stations have kept power. 

More:Firefighters on Monday answered nearly 1,900 service calls after historic snowfall in Austin

On Tuesday morning, Austin Energy refused to release information for a map of the city indicating grids with critical infrastructure.

"Because the quantity of ERCOT’s load shed was so extraordinary, its requirements took up every non-critical electric circuit available," Sargent said in the memo. "This is why the outages were not rotated. There are no remaining circuits to rotate the outage to, and customers experiencing outages cannot currently be brought back online without violating ERCOT directives and compromising the grid. Therefore, customers are seeing much longer outages than anticipated as we do all we can to comply with ERCOT’s direction. We are aware of the frustration this has caused."

The memo said Austin Energy is making phone calls to customers who registered as medically vulnerable and is checking in with their emergency contacts if it cannot reach them.

When will power be restored in Austin?

Austin Energy said Tuesday afternoon that customers should be prepared not to have power through Tuesday night and possibly longer.

ERCOT said Tuesday that it expected to restore power to some customers in the afternoon, due to additional wind and solar output. ERCOT warned, however, that the number of controlled outages statewide remains high. According to tracking website poweroutage.us, the state had 4.4 million power outages affecting 12.4 million customers.

"Clearly, ERCOT does not yet have this crisis in hand," Pool said. "ERCOT should be accurate and truthful in their assessment of the status of the grid."

Adelaide Bixby, her daughters Eleanora and Elezabeth, and her father, Guy, get into their car Monday in the Blackhawk neighborhood in Pflugerville. Most homes in the area were without power for nearly eight hours. Atmos Energy and other power companies were using rotating outages to protect the electric grid.