Widespread power outages in multiple Texas cities

(KLTV) - Power outages have been reported in several East Texas cities.

According to Mark Robinson with SWEPCO, widespread outages have been reported. Robinson said the cause of the outages is unknown at this time. Crews are working to identify the cause.

SWEPCO confirms widespread power outages, cause unknown at this time

This is just breaking so not much info about it. Many TX local governments have also been hit with ransomware attacks. Could the power outages be related?

Will update this thread when more info comes out.

poweroutage.us

ETA - A little more info and confirmation.

Blackouts reported across East Texas leaving more than 50,000 without power

SWEPCO reports over 49,000 customers without power.

Wood County reports around 237 affected customers.

ONCOR reports 59 outages.

Cherokee County Electric reports 1,003 outages in the Jacksonville area.

ETA - They think they have found the cause of the outages.

Substation at Longview Eastman plant said to be cause of widespread outages

An incident at a AEP-Southwestern Electric Power Co. substation near the Texas Eastman Chemical Co. in Longview is said to be the cause of widespread power outages in the Longview area, according to the Rusk County Office of Emergency Management.

ETA - The info at the top news link has been updated.

Posted by Rusk County OEM on Sunday, August 18, 2019

Rusk County OEM said the Texas Eastman is flaring off product as a safety precaution due to power issues.
(Source: KLTV)

The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that Texas Eastman has told their office that they have no problems other than they do not have power. They do have the flares burning off excess gas until the power is restored.

Earlier, an employee with the Eastman plant had said there was a grass fire near the plant, but offered no details.

ETA - Looks like Northwest Louisiana was hit too.

SWEPCO alone reports almost 70,000 of its customers in East Texas are without service

(KSLA) — One or more power outages are impacting thousands of customers in Northwest Louisiana and East Texas.

A recorded message by Panola-Harrison Electric Cooperative says an issue with power supply is impacting some of its customers in Keithville and Shreveport in Northwest Louisiana and DeBerry, Bethany, Waskom, Carthage, Karnack and Marshall in East Texas as well as surrounding areas.

ETA - Eastman plant blowing off excess gas

SWEPCO working to restore power to 85,000 customers, Eastman plant blowing off excess gas

The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that Texas Eastman has told their office that they have no problems other than they do not have power. They do have the flares burning off excess gas until the power is restored.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Could be the heat or it could be drunk Texans shoot out transformer on a saturday night.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

I wonder if it is connected to low winds?
Seems like there have been ongoing outages, due to high demand in the heat.
Power plant outages, low wind puts Texans on high alert to conserve power
Thursday, August 15, 2019

a reply to: PhilbertDezineck

Could be anything.

TX has the best power grid in the US though, I have heard.

originally posted by: LookingAtMars

Many TX local governments have also been hit with ransomware attacks. Could the power outages be related?

It certainly should not be discounted as a possibility because coincidences stop being coincidences when patterns emerge...

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: LookingAtMars

I wonder if it is connected to low winds?
Seems like there have been ongoing outages, due to high demand in the heat.
Power plant outages, low wind puts Texans on high alert to conserve power
Thursday, August 15, 2019

Good point.

Thanks for the link.

originally posted by: LookingAtMars
a reply to: PhilbertDezineck

Could be anything.

TX has the best power grid in the US though, I have heard.

It's that way to make succeeding easier 😉

a reply to: LookingAtMars

FAILING INFRASTRUCTURE!

Yet no one is talking about infrastructure.

Which is really strange considering if trump comes out with a plan and gets something done about it he becomes more popular.

Same goes for the dems running for potus. If they come out with a real plan that people think would work it would help their chances in 2020.

a reply to: scraedtosleep

The electrical infrastructure in TX is top of the line. The best in the US I have been told.

You are right about most of the infrastructure in the US though. I thought the last president was going to fix that.

originally posted by: LookingAtMars
a reply to: scraedtosleep

The electrical infrastructure in TX is top of the line. The best in the US I have been told.

Obviously it's not as good as you are being told.

Might have something to do with this?

Since 2002, more than 5.6 million Texans have exercised their power to choose with a deregulated energy plan. SaveOnEnergy.com, the largest online energy marketplace in the country, helps Texans in Dallas, Houston, Fort-Worth and more cities to shop for competitive energy rates from the nation's top retail electric providers (REPs).

$9 a kw hour appeared on my electric bill just once and I would be buying solar panels..

It's SWEPCO which is out of state servicing a small area in Texas.

Did they patch Windows 7 and XP with wanna cry security patches?

I'm talking windows

originally posted by: roadgravel
It's SWEPCO which is out of state servicing a small area in Texas.

Dude.

Buzzkill much?

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: LookingAtMars

I wonder if it is connected to low winds?
Seems like there have been ongoing outages, due to high demand in the heat.
Power plant outages, low wind puts Texans on high alert to conserve power
Thursday, August 15, 2019

Well, OP has already reported on outages elsewhere in Texas..El Paso I think.
Retail power companies, who only buy electricity have done scams in the past with false scenarios when things got less than cozy.
Real suppliers like Con-Ed can't raise prices without justification like the retailers may attempt with or without proper justification, however I don't know how who actually generates the power in Texas, but you are right to point with the link that there is a resource problem, as well as actual faults with, 'older' ? generator/s, but not a given...so not a singular event it appears.

But it does raise the question of "low wind power" and other failures occurring in a similar timescale.

Funny though, a very similar but very rare event happened just a week or so ago in England, a generator failure onshore and the same to a wind farm offshore, although these were simultaneous events, but you can read more here,
www.bbc.co.uk...

a reply to: smurfy

July was the hottest month on record for the world since recording.

Grids have already been strained, so if wind is low and they effects a segment of energy production, no matter how mall... It could domino.

Wind would attribute to heat dissipation or the lack there of, no?

Keep in mind, the Texas power grid is isolated to that state, whereas the other 2 parts cover the expanse of continental US and Canada.


Not to disprove your point. Just food for thought.

a reply to: PhilbertDezineck

I was mostly kidding. Though as a native Texan I know that wouldn't be implied.

Latest Update

More than 100,000 northeast Texans without power, TVEC says

Power is beginning to be restored in northeast Texas after Trinity Valley Electric Cooperative transmission grid issues Sunday night resulted in power outages for more than 100,000 people around 6 p.m., according to TVEC. The outage covers a big swath of land and includes areas from Kaufman to Frankston.

ETA - Boil Advisory

Power outage leads to a boil water notice for some East Texans

A boil water notice was issued Sunday night for residents who use Oakland Water Supply in Rusk and Pinehill-Chapman Water Supply in Henderson.

According to Rusk County Emergency Management office, the power outage is the reason they are asking residents to boil their water.

Rusk County OEM said it will take a few days for the results to come back on the samples.

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: smurfy

July was the hottest month on record for the world since recording.

Grids have already been strained, so if wind is low and they effects a segment of energy production, no matter how mall... It could domino.

Wind would attribute to heat dissipation or the lack there of, no?

Keep in mind, the Texas power grid is isolated to that state, whereas the other 2 parts cover the expanse of continental US and Canada.


Not to disprove your point. Just food for thought.

I am aware of that,
Though record global temperatures, (the world as you say) are not something I could easily comply with..weather is weather, and it's different all over the world at any given time...July 2019 was no different in that respect.