Arctic blast breaks energy, temperature records in Austin

City of Austin officials plan to keep warming shelters open through Wednesday morning as dangerous, subfreezing temperatures will linger into midweek.

As residents hunkered down indoors Monday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — which manages the state power grid — pleaded with Texans to conserve energy Tuesday morning. Although Austin Energy broke usage records Monday morning, officials said they didn’t expect widespread outages related to the record-breaking cold weather.

Temperatures will drop to the mid-teens in Austin both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, according to the National Weather Service, though it said chances of precipitation had disappeared Monday afternoon. A wind chill warning is in effect until 9 a.m. Tuesday and a wind chill advisory will be in effect Tuesday night until 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The thermometer at Camp Mabry registered a temperature of 16 degrees, which is colder than the previous daily record of 19 degrees, set in 1944, Mayor Kirk Watson said during a Monday news conference.

More: Austin live weather updates: ERCOT asks for energy conservation Tuesday morning

The risk for frostbite and hypothermia is high in weather like this, he said.

“Please, please continue to avoid all nonessential travel and stay indoors, if at all possible,” Watson said.

Record-breaking energy demand

Austin Energy broke a record for peak demand Monday morning, when customers used 2,760 megawatts, Austin Energy General Manager Bob Kahn said. The previous peak was 2,630 megawatts, he said.

Kahn emphasized that he doesn’t expect widespread outages, such as those that in 2021 plunged millions of Texans statewide into powerlessness during a week of dangerously freezing temperatures.

The utility has experienced only minor outages, which in some cases have been caused by overloaded circuits.

“A fuse will blow,” Kahn said. “We replace that within an hour.”

High grid load

Residents should try to reduce energy use by turning the thermostat down a few degrees or using a fireplace to heat their home, Kahn said. People shouldn’t use an oven to heat their home, he said.

In case of unexpected outages, the city has identified circuits that carry noncritical infrastructure, Watson said.

More: See live map of Texas road conditions, closures as state sees freezing temps, rain

“We will try to roll those outages in a way that any one area would not have more than 40 minutes,” Watson said. “We right now do not anticipate that’s going to happen.”

As of midday Monday, utility companies in Austin, Travis County and surrounding areas had reported few power outages. Just over 99.9% of Austin Energy customers had power around 2:30 p.m., with 22 localized outages affecting about 100 customers, per the utility’s outage map. In Travis County as a whole, about 99.9% had power.

Similar power outage percentages were reported in Williamson County to the north and Bastrop County to the east.

More: How to prepare your house, pantry, car, emergency plan before arctic blast hits Austin

As of 2 p.m., about 49 inbound and 57 outbound flights, less than 19% of flights, had been canceled at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to Flight Radar 24.

Icy conditions were reported on roads and highways across the region. In Georgetown, all southbound lanes of Texas 130 at the Interstate 35 entrance were closed due to a multivehicle wreck at Patriot Way.

Out in the cold

Frigid and overcast, the city was relatively sleepy on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday Monday. Shoppers shivered as they climbed out of their steaming cars at the H-E-B on Riverside Drive.

Christina Castilleja loaded bags into her car.

Her family of nine in Manor lost power during a freeze last year, so this time they vowed to prepare for cold weather, she said. They brought their generator out just in case the power went out.

More: Track outages from arctic blast in Central Texas. See Texas power outage map.

“We have to be sure that we have everything we need,” Castilleja said while putting away eggs, juice and other essentials.

Castilleja spent the days before the freezing weather donating blankets to unhoused people and planned to take chili and hot cocoa to them this week, she said.

“If we can’t handle it, imagine being out there 24 hours for days on end trying to figure out how to stay warm,” Castilleja said.

Steven Slavin, who was also getting essentials Monday morning, had spent the morning driving for a ride-hailing app.

“I’m making good money, and there’s not a lot of traffic,” Slavin said. “It’s been working out for me.”

He had made the trip to H-E-B to stock up in case road conditions became too bad to drive.

Roads and shelter

Austin and Travis County had treated several elevated roads and bridges — which are more likely to accumulate ice — with a material that reduces ice.

The city has been operating six shelters — up from the normal three — to accommodate the increased demand for indoor shelters, Watson said.

City shelters and temporary warming centers housed about 400 people and seven dogs Sunday night into Monday morning, Watson said.

City officials announced Monday that they plan to keep the shelters open through Wednesday.

“I anticipate that we will have more people that will sign up,” Watson said.

People who want to seek shelter must register at One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road, between 5 and 8 p.m. each day. City staffers will provide transportation from the center to shelters.