With another potentially big winter storm heading here to Houston, Both CenterPoint and ERCOT say they are prepared and ready for any issues. Even the loss of power.
“Any time there’s an extreme weather event, and this certainly appears like it could be an extreme weather event, households need to really pay attention” said energy expert David Holt, president of Consumer Energy Alliance.
Houstonians remember the extreme winter storm Uri in 2021, and this could be ERCOT’s biggest test since.
“Extreme weather has a way of sending all of us surprises, and that holds true for power providers and grid managers” Holt told KTRH, “I know that they’re saying all the right things, and hopefully this storm is not as bad as maybe it’s predicted to be.”
ERCOT anticipates that there will be sufficient power supply, and CenterPoint says their cold weather readiness plan is in place, and they activated their Emergency Operations Center.
“Both CenterPoint from a power perspective, and ERCOT from the entire grid perspective, are saying all the right things as opposed to sending warnings to folks across the state” noted Holt.
And then finally, when it comes to the roadways, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) usually treats roads with de-icing solution ahead of winter weather events.