Blackouts Hit Texas as Arctic Blast Threatens Electric Grid

Texas residents have started to lose electricity as an arctic blast and strong winds hit the state Friday.

Meteorologists forecasted a frigid arctic blast to encompass much of the United States in the days before Christmas, stretching as far south as Texas.

The extreme cold, which plunged the Texas panhandle into single digit temperatures that felt like subzero temperatures because of the wind chill, has already started to stress the electric grid. More than 77,000 customers in Texas were without power on Friday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

Meteorologists doubted the most recent arctic blast would cripple the state's power grid as severely as one did in February 2021, when three severe winter storms caused a dayslong power loss for millions that resulted in hundreds of deaths.

However, some of the smaller power cooperatives like Bandera Electric Cooperative (BEC) are instilling rolling blackouts to relieve stress on the grid.

"Due to the high energy demand and to maintain the integrity of our electric grid, BEC will have rolling outages in the Bandera, Pipe Creek, and Wharton's Dock areas," BEC tweeted. "We will attempt to keep outages limited to 30 minutes."

Other power companies were experiencing unplanned outages as high winds and arctic temperatures affected service. Both American Electric Power Texas and Pedernales Electric Cooperative reported outages, with crews working to restore service.

Out of the entire state, BEC had the most reported outages with more than 3,200 customers, or nearly 20 percent of its service area, reporting outages. The area was experiencing higher temperatures than much of the rest of the Lone Star State, with Friday morning temperatures in the low 20s.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages 90 percent of the state's power grid, still reported normal grid conditions on Friday morning, with more than 6,000 megawatts of power available despite demand inching closer to supply. A graph on ERCOT's website referred to the grid as being in "normal conditions".

"[ERCOT] will deploy all available tools to manage the grid reliably," ERCOT previously told Newsweek in an email. "ERCOT expects sufficient generation to meet forecasted demand at this time."

ERCOT utilizes a mix of energy sources to power the grid, including solar, wind, hydro, power storage, natural gas and other sources.

If power does go out, there are various ways people can heat their homes until it is restored, including using fuel-based heat sources such as propane or kerosene heaters, covering doors and windows with heavy blankets to limit drafts and drinking warm liquids.

Newsweek reached out to ERCOT for further comment.