Power Outage Sweeps Across Permian Basin
By: Jamie Kuras
Updated: February 2, 2011
ODESSA/MIDLAND -- Many West Texans woke up Wednesday morning to the power being out.
The extremely cold conditions in the Permian Basin left people with no choice but to crank up the heat to keep warm. But that added up.
The high demand for electricity caused power outages, leaving people out in the cold. To reduce stress to the system, ONCOR conducted rolling outages or "load shedding" -- shutting off the power in certain areas for 5 to 15 minutes. The procedure keeps the electric load balanced.
But the activity upset Midlander Lance Bontky, who says ONCOR should have seen the situation coming
"If I'm paying an electric company for electricity, then i expect it to work," Bontky said. "What are they going to do this summer when it's 120 degrees? Are they gonna do this same thing again? They can go on television and say 'we don't want you to use electricity because we're trying to conserve energy'. You all should of thought of this from day one, not at the last minute."
To combat the cold weather and power outages, the City of Odessa has set up some warming stations for residents without power.
The American Red Cross has also set up a warming shelter and volunteers are more then willing to stay overnight if they need to.
With temperatures not expected to rise until Friday or Saturday, residents are asked to conserve as much power as necessary.
The extremely cold conditions in the Permian Basin left people with no choice but to crank up the heat to keep warm. But that added up.
The high demand for electricity caused power outages, leaving people out in the cold. To reduce stress to the system, ONCOR conducted rolling outages or "load shedding" -- shutting off the power in certain areas for 5 to 15 minutes. The procedure keeps the electric load balanced.
But the activity upset Midlander Lance Bontky, who says ONCOR should have seen the situation coming
"If I'm paying an electric company for electricity, then i expect it to work," Bontky said. "What are they going to do this summer when it's 120 degrees? Are they gonna do this same thing again? They can go on television and say 'we don't want you to use electricity because we're trying to conserve energy'. You all should of thought of this from day one, not at the last minute."
To combat the cold weather and power outages, the City of Odessa has set up some warming stations for residents without power.
The American Red Cross has also set up a warming shelter and volunteers are more then willing to stay overnight if they need to.
With temperatures not expected to rise until Friday or Saturday, residents are asked to conserve as much power as necessary.
