ERCOT has issued a Weather Watch for January 15-17 due to extreme cold weather across the ERCOT region, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves. Grid conditions are expected to be normal. For more information and to sign up for notifications from ERCOT, visit https://www.ercot.com/txans
What is an ERCOT Weather Watch?
An ERCOT Weather Watch is an advance notification of forecasted significant weather with higher electrical demand and the potential for lower reserves. At this time, grid conditions are expected to be normal, and there is no current expectation of an energy emergency. Texans should continue to monitor real-time and extended grid conditions at ercot.com.
At this time no action is needed. However, reducing electric use during peak demand times can help you save and lower demand on the grid. Energy-saving tips can be found at https://www.ercot.com/txans#tips
Message from Jackson Electric:
We have been monitoring the impending weather conditions for our area and while our service territory is not predicting much ice or snow, we are predicted to have high winds which can cause just as much damage to our systems.
High winds can cause power lines to swing together resulting in a fault or short circuit that interrupts service, can blow tree limbs or entire trees into lines causing them to fall to the ground, and/or possibly break lines or utility poles bringing down portions of the infrastructure that delivers power. Momentary outages, which customers see as dimming or flickering of their lights or even a brief loss of power, are caused by short circuits. Short circuits happen when something, such as a tree limb, comes into contact with power lines or when the lines touch each other. When a short circuit occurs, a safety device called a breaker automatically deenergizes the circuit and interrupts the flow of power. Electrical equipment is designed to quickly open and close the breaker two or three times automatically attempting to clear the problem. This is the case when a tree limb blows into a line and then swings clear. Approximately 30% of short circuits clear themselves. If the problem does not clear itself, we send a crew to locate the source of the problem and clear the line. Always remember to stay at least 10 feet away from downed power lines! Other causes of outages could be: vehicle accidents, small animals, or equipment.
JEC crews will be on standby overnight to respond to outages throughout our system. If you experience a power outage, we ask that you call one of our offices so that a dispatcher can assist you. During widespread outages and after hours, our automated system stakes members' calls and routes outage information to service crews more quickly than a manual call system. helping us restore your power more efficiently. Please have your METER number and PHONE number ready when you call an outage in.
