(Eagle News) — According to the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas also known as ERCOT  Which manages the flow of electric power to 26 million customers,  and represents 90% of the state’s electric load, a new winter peak demand record was set on Sunday evening, reaching 69,150 MegaWatts  between 6 and 7 p.m. which is over  3,200MW higher than the previous winter peak set back in January 2018.

Around 1:25 Monday morning,  ERCOT  declared an EEA 3, urging consumers to reduce electricity use with rotating outages implemented to protect the system, as severe winter weather forced  generating units offline.

“Every grid operator and every electric company is fighting to restore power right now,” ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness said in a press release.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott gathered information throughout the day from ERCOT & the Public Utilities Commision, and provided updates on Twitter.

“Many power generation companies facilities froze overnight and shut down their ability to generate power.They are working to get power back on line,” Abbott tweeted.

He later added, “the Texas power grid has not been compromised. The ability of some companies that generate the power has been frozen. This includes the natural gas & coal generators. They are working to get generation back on line. ERCOT & PUC are prioritizing residential consumers.”

At around 3 p.m. the governor reported, “Good news. Results are on the way. About 200,000 residential customers are coming back on line now. More are expected in the coming hours.”

As extreme winter weather continues to impact the Lone Star State,  authorities reminds Texans to:

• Stay off the roads,
• conserve energy,
• keep generators and grills outside, and
• avoid heating homes with ovens or stove tops.

(Eagle News Service)