DALLAS, Dec. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncor crews worked
around the clock to cut the number of outages down to less than
45,000 across its service territory as of Sunday morning, with the
hardest hit area of North Texas
having less than 35,000 outages.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120402/DA80968LOGO )
The peak of the storm occurred Friday when 270,000 customers
lost power after a major ice storm descended upon Texas. On Saturday, an additional 30,000
outages occurred as subfreezing temperatures prevented thawing and
continued to cause ice-laden tree limbs to break and fall into
power lines.
While many utilities across the southern United States already sent assistance, Oncor
requested additional help from its mutual assistance partner
utilities to aid in restoration. By Sunday morning, almost 5,000
Oncor employees, contractors and utility workers from other areas
in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida were working in the field.
Winter conditions and dangerous roads continue to challenge and
greatly hinder restoration efforts, but Oncor officials estimate
restoration efforts will be nearly complete by late Sunday
night.
"We know it's been very difficult for our customers who have
been without power as a result of the ice storm and ongoing
subfreezing temperatures. We're using all available resources to
restore power as quickly as we safely can," Chief Operating Officer
Jim Greer said.
Public and employee safety continues to be Oncor's No. 1
priority. Greer said that customers should stay away from downed
power lines and call 911 if they see a downed line.
Oncor's advanced metering system has been a significant asset to
the restoration process by proactively communicating customer
outages to Oncor as they occur and letting the company know when
power at a specific home or business has been restored. To be safe,
Oncor customers are still encouraged to report their outages by
texting OUT to 66267, visiting mobile-friendly
stormcenter.oncor.com or by calling 888.313.4747 to ensure that
Oncor is aware of their specific outage.
There may be a small number of customers who are still without
power after Sunday night. This includes customers who may have
damage to their home electrical equipment, such as their meter
base. Homeowners who have meter bases (the box that surrounds a
home's electrical meter) that are damaged or pulled away from their
home will need to contact an electrician to complete necessary
repairs. After electrician repairs are completed, either the
homeowner or the electrician will need to contact the homeowner's
city inspection office before Oncor can safely restore service.
Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC ("Oncor") is a regulated
electricity distribution and transmission business that uses
superior asset management skills to provide reliable electricity
delivery to consumers. Oncor operates the largest distribution and
transmission system in Texas,
delivering power to more than 3.2 million homes and businesses and
operating approximately 119,000 miles of transmission and
distribution lines in Texas. While
Oncor is owned by a limited number of investors (including majority
owner, Energy Future Holdings Corp.), Oncor is managed by its Board
of Directors, which is comprised of a majority of independent
directors.
SOURCE Oncor