Texas grid officials say the state is prepared to meet electricity demand ahead of a powerful winter storm that鈥檚 expected to bring days of freezing temperatures and the chance of ice or snow across parts of the state later this week.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the state鈥檚 power grid, told The Texas Newsroom on Tuesday that based on expected weather conditions, it 鈥渁nticipates there will be sufficient generation to meet demand鈥� ahead of the storm.
鈥淓RCOT will continue to deploy all available resources to manage the grid reliably and coordinate closely with the Public Utility Commission, generation providers, and transmission utilities,鈥� the council said in a statement.
Subfreezing temperatures are forecast to arrive by Friday as arctic air pushes south into Texas. Forecasters say moisture arriving late Friday night into Saturday could set the stage for hazardous winter weather throughout the state.
鈥淲e鈥檒l start out with a cold rain across North and Central Texas, and that will quickly devolve into a wintry mix Friday and Saturday, so we鈥檙e expecting some ice, some snow,鈥� said Allison Prater, meteorologist with the National Weather Service鈥檚 Dallas-Fort Worth office.
The most significant impacts are expected late Friday through the weekend, with temperatures plunging well below freezing. Prater said much of Texas could see overnight lows fall freezing, with hard-freeze conditions possible as far south as the Gulf Coast.
There鈥檚 still a chance parts of Texas could remain below freezing on Monday, but temperatures are expected to begin rebounding up to the lower 40s on Tuesday.
Prater urged Texans to prepare now by stocking emergency supplies at home and in their cars, checking smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and making sure vehicles have enough fuel. She also recommended winterizing homes to prevent burst pipes, monitoring forecasts closely and limiting time outdoors.
The approaching storm comes nearly four years after the February 2021 winter storm, which left millions of Texans without power for days during extreme cold and was blamed for widespread power and water outages. statewide.
In the years that followed, the state has taken steps to during extreme cold, including requiring power plants and transmission facilities to . ERCOT says it has conducted thousands of inspections to ensure compliance with those rules, changes it says have improved the grid鈥檚 resiliency during periods of high demand.
