Triple-digit heat prompts concerns about state’s power grid and possible roadway damage

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It’s going to be even hotter this week with temperatures in the triple digits, prompting concerns about how well our state’s electric grid will hold up and if we’ll see any more damage on our major roads.

This came after ERCOT issued a voluntary conservation notice last Tuesday, and TxDOT saw several spots on our highways buckle under the extreme heat.

READ MORE: Why does ERCOT still issue conservation notices during Texas’ predictably hot summers?

Thousands of people experienced power outages throughout southeast Texas over the last week due to the severe storms that began Wednesday night. It left vulnerable families without air conditioning, ruined groceries in the fridge, and left people who depend on electric-powered machines for medical reasons in a panic.

Granted, those outages weren’t caused by failures from our state’s power grid. But some of those people who were impacted are worried about it happening again if ERCOT’s grid can’t handle the demand for electricity this week.

ABC13 spoke with a resident in the Houston Heights area, Diane McConnell, who is one of those individuals. McConnell said last Friday, she went 14 hours without power due to the storm. If it lasted any longer, she feared it could’ve been detrimental to her health. She asked ABC13 not to show her face, as she’s fighting cancer and just went through chemo.

“It’s extremely concerning,” McConnell said. “If you’ve got any type of health concern like me with asthma where it’s already hard to breathe and your body temperature is already hotter than normal, it’s almost impossible to sleep. So you’re exhausted.”

Alejandra Diaz, who is the spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy, said their company could only fix outages when it’s an equipment issue, such as downed power lines or damaged transformers. She explained they don’t have any control over power generation.

“We are a transmission and distribution utility. So if that’s the case, we follow ERCOT’s direction in order to rotate those outages in a controlled manner,” Diaz said. “ERCOT is the grid operator, which means they have the whole picture of the market. They see how much electricity is being produced, then it goes through the transmission and distribution utilities, and then to the retail electric providers.”

A representative from ERCOT declined ABC13’s request for an interview and emailed the same statement from six days ago.

The statement said in part, “Depending on weather conditions and generation output, we could see tight grid conditions periodically this summer (..) ERCOT will continue to operate the grid conservatively, bringing generating resources online early to mitigate sudden changes in generation or demand.”

READ MORE: ERCOT issues Weather Watch as rising temperatures lead to high electrical demand next week

McConnell said she doesn’t have many other options other than staying at a family member’s house if she experiences another power outage, citing the high cost of backup generators.

“I would like to see our officials get together and give a true assessment of the grid. People are pushing for renewables, and I think most of us don’t have an issue with that. But the problem is we seem to be going to renewables faster than we can actually handle the supply-and-demand side of it,” McConnell said.

The other concern from the extreme heat is our roads. Last week, TxDOT saw up to 10 different spots that experienced buckling or damaged pavement like Highway 6 between Manvel and Alvin in Brazoria County.

Danny Perez, who is TxDOT Eastern District’s public information officer, said crews will keep an eye out on major roads in six different counties this week, mainly the interstate freeways and highways that have had issues before.

“We’re being proactive, something we’re doing already. We’re going out, making sure we’re looking at locations to see if there are any issues, patching those immediately, and then scheduling the more extensive repairs for later. We’re making sure we at least get the roadway patched up, so we won’t have any problems like we did last week with the heat,” Perez said.

In the meantime, TxDOT is asking Texans to drive responsibly and report any issues they see on the roads.

“Please stay focused on the roads. If you’re driving at a high rate of speed, weaving, or texting and driving, you’re not going to see a big pothole. But if you do see it, wait until you get to a safe location and report it to us so we can go out immediately and fix the issue,” Perez said.

Repairs on Beltway 8 frontage road WB among 5 to 10 other road buckling incidents since last week

Billy Rudolph with the City of Houston said they always anticipate a surge of 311 calls if there are widespread power outages. In those cases, they have a plan in place to bring in additional staff to help field the increase in calls and accommodate people at cooling centers.

Rudolph said their Public Works Department is not concerned about city roads experiencing any damage this week because they’re designed to handle the extreme heat.

For information about the City of Houston’s safety tips during the extreme heat and cooling centers, click here for their Office of Emergency Management website.

For ERCOT’s Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS), you can sign up here.

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