CenterPoint Energy’s outage monitor shows that more than half of its customers are still without energy since the evening of February 16. (Screenshot, courtesy of CenterPoint Energy)
CenterPoint Energy officials said in a Feb. 16 statement that its customers could run out of electricity for a few more days, while the Texas Electricity Reliability Council is trying to stabilize the state’s power grid.
“Due to ongoing issues with the power generators’ ability to produce electricity, CenterPoint Energy customers need to be prepared to run out of power, possibly for the duration of the power outage event, which could take several more days,” the statement said.
The state’s energy supply has fallen short of demand. As such, the resulting outages take longer than previously planned, the statement said. In order to comply with the ERCOT directive, CenterPoint had to suspend the service to some of its customers.
As of 4:28 PM on February 16, 1.23 million CenterPoint customers were powerless – more than half of CenterPoint customers.
The statement states that CenterPoint is an electric transportation and delivery company that serves the Greater Houston area, so it depends on the electricity supplied by third-party electricity producers and received by ERCOT; CenterPoint does not control the power grid.
“We are ready to restore energy as soon as it is available for delivery; however, there is not enough electricity from third-party generators, ”said Dave Lesar, president and CEO of CenterPoint, in a statement. “CenterPoint Energy continues to communicate with the Texas Electric Reliability Council and other stakeholders about the lack of electricity, but we have no control over the ability of generators to supply power, nor can we predict when they will resume generation. As soon as the energy is delivered to us, we will be ready to start delivering this energy to our customers. ”
According to the statement, CenterPoint Energy resumed rotation disruptions overnight on February 15, but was forced to stop rotation interruptions due to the ERCOT directive to reduce network voltage again. Seven third-party electricity generators in the CenterPoint area went offline, which caused the power reduction, according to the statement.
If additional generators are disconnected, power outages will result.
“Given the uncertain timing and continuing public safety risks due to severe weather conditions in Houston and surrounding areas, CenterPoint Energy advises all of its power customers to be prepared for power outages, possibly during the next generation power outage. lasts a few days. We encourage all our customers to take precautions for their personal safety, “Kenny Mercado, executive vice president of CenterPoint’s electrical service, said in a statement.
Customers who still have energy are asked to keep it, and customers with natural gas are asked to temporarily lower their thermostat to help conserve natural gas, according to the statement.