Wind accounts for cold snap outages

Another February cold snap swept through Texas this year, though damage and outages were not as widespread or numerous compared to last year. Furthermore, BEC CEO Bill Hetherington said most of the outages were caused by high winds instead of cold.

“After last year’s winter storm, we focused on making the grid more resilient,” said Hetherington. “Those efforts paid off, and I’m very proud of our employees who worked during the inclement weather to keep the lights and heat on.”

According to BEC officials, roughly ten outages affecting 676 members were reported during the winter weather earlier this month.

Preparations started on Wednesday, February 2 with BEC management declaring an Emergency Level 1 (E1), which is the lowest emergency event but still calls for extra resources and employees to remain on standby.

BEC officials say a 256.38-megawatt peak occurred on Friday, February 4, making it the second largest in BEC history.

The E1 was canceled at noon on Saturday.