Tens of thousands still without power as restoration efforts continue | Check your provider

AUSTIN, Texas — A Winter Storm Warning ended for much of Central Texas at 10 a.m. Thursday, but the cleanup and power restoration efforts are far from over.

The winter weather is causing tree damage and widespread power outages. Austin Energy confirmed this is the most significant power outage since the historic February 2021 freeze. 

Here’s a brief look at the current outages: 

Check outages based on your provider: Austin Energy | Oncor | PEC | Bluebonnet 

As of 9 p.m. Saturday, Austin Energy has 1,628 outages affecting 53,781 customers across the city. 

Austin Energy told KVUE at approximately 7 a.m. Friday that since 1 a.m. Wednesday, there have been a total of over 304,157 customers without power. Since that time, power has been restored to over 256,300 customers as of 9 a.m. Saturday. Between 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday, power had been restored to 51,000 customers. 

“If your power is still out, please be patient. We know you are frustrated. We are too. Remaining outages are complex, but there are close to 400 crew members from Austin Energy and neighboring utilities working to get customers back online,” Austin Energy said in a tweet Friday morning.

On Thursday morning, Austin Energy’s general manager provided an update to the public about the ongoing outages.

Residents who are in need of overnight shelter can report to One Texas Center, located at 505 Barton Springs Road, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. They will be transported via Capital Metro bus to an assigned shelter. 

Austin Energy said Wednesday night that it expects to have all outages restored by 6 p.m. Friday. However, the provider said Thursday afternoon that it cannot provide a specific system-wide restoration time.

At 1:45 p.m. Thursday, Austin Energy stated that they are unable to provide a “specific system-wide restoration estimate” because “each individual outage has its unique challenges.”

At 4:30 a.m. Thursday, Austin Energy said that crews restored power to some customers overnight, but they are dealing with repeated outages. Crews are also watching for lightning in the area to ensure it’s safe for them to keep working. Austin Energy said conditions are expected to improve later in the day Thursday as crews get power back to more customers.

Austin Energy initially released the following tweet regarding the widespread outages Wednesday:

In a tweet at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Austin Energy stated that customers might be without power for 12 to 24 hours:

At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Austin Energy provided another update stating that crews are still working to restore power. The company said that the outages are from the severe weather and not related to a statewide grid issue. 

At 2 p.m. Wednesday, Austin Energy said that ice and tree limbs are still breaking as lineworkers work to restore power. The agency said its crews are making progress, but “there is still a lot to do and we’re working as quickly and safely as possible.”

Austin Energy’s system was not allowing people to report outages on Wednesday night due via its website map or via text due to the high number of customers using the system. The utility’s outage line was still available at 512-322-9100 but was experiencing long wait times.

As of 11 p.m. Friday, Oncor has 519 active outages affecting 13,100 customers.

On Wednesday afternoon, Oncor said it did not have an estimated time of restoration, but crews are fully engaged in restoring power and will be working as quickly and safely as possible to get power restored to customers.

Oncor said the biggest issue that arises with winter weather is ice accumulation on trees. It said ice accumulation can increase the weight of tree branches by 30 times, resulting in sagging and breakage.

As of 11:15 a.m. Saturday, PEC has 1,839 outages affecting 10,253 meters. About 97% of meters have power.

On Friday evening, PEC stated that members in the Liberty Hill, Bertram, Cedar Park, Round Mountain, Johnson City and the rural areas along West 290 toward Fredericksburg are still experiencing significant outages. These outages are due to a multiple poles being broken and areas of wire being down. 

On Thursday morning, PEC said that members in the Spring Branch and Bulverde communities continue to experience a prolonged outage. PEC said this outage is not due to equipment owned, operated or maintained by PEC, however, the co-op is working closely with its transmission service provider as it makes repairs to the equipment. PEC said it is hopeful that these members will have power later in the day Thursday.

On Wednesday afternoon, PEC provided an update, saying crews have been working around the clock to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. 

PEC explained their restoration efforts in the following statement:

“Though the ice is melting, this event is still ongoing and the damage across our service area is extensive. We are seeing an increased number of isolated outages that take time to repair. Our crews are making progress, but due to the widespread damage, it is difficult to provide a system-wide restoration time. It is possible that outages could extend into the weekend.

“There have also been challenges with substations and equipment owned by LCRA, our transmission service provider. We are working closely with them to make the necessary repairs to bring members in the Spring Branch and Bulverde area back online.”

As of 12 p.m. Saturday, Bluebonnet has 159 members without power. 

On Friday morning, Bluebonnet said that overnight crews restored power to more than 2,000 members. Those crews will be joined by the dayshift beginning at 6 a.m., and the two shifts will overlap for a few hours, working together to repair damage and restore power to the remaining members who are currently in the dark.

Bluebonnet said Wednesday afternoon that due to the number of outages and extensive damage caused by trees and downed power lines, members should expect outages to last another 12 to 24 hours.

Bluebonnet said Wednesday evening that the hardest hit counties have been Travis, Williamson, Bastrop, Lee and Burleson. It said the majority of outages have been due to ice accumulation on trees and power lines.

At 6:20 a.m. Wednesday, KVUE lost power amid the mass Austin Energy power outages. During the outage, KVUE went off-air and was unable to broadcast. As of 6:55 a.m., the station is slowly restoring power. 

As of 8:30 a.m., KVUE Daybreak is live on the KVUE+ app, the website and Spectrum channels. The engineering team is working to restore KVUE back on every TV provider.

As of 9:55 a.m., KVUE returned to broadcast airwaves.

At around 10 a.m. Tuesday, the City of Leander was reporting an unknown amount of power outages throughout the city. There were multiple traffic signals out in these areas, and residents were asked to treat those signals as a four-way stop.

As of 3:05 p.m. the power has been restored to the area and “signals are operating properly.”

Williamson County Emergency Management says the outage was due to equipment failure, not the winter weather.

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