MIDLAND, Texas — With weather conditions set to worsen into Wednesday, reliable electricity becomes a concern.
Oncor is monitoring the weather conditions closely and is prepared to take action if they are called upon.
“If lights are out, we’ll get them back on, as we can," said Gus Ortega, West Region Manager for Oncor Electric Delivery.
As ice continues to impact the roadways for West Texans, the accumulation of it could force issues in their homes.
“The ice will accumulate on power lines and transformers, and that will cause some outages," said Ortega.
Outages that Oncor is prepared to fix.
“We’re prepared," said Ortega. "We have our employees set in different areas ready to go in case we do have a bad weather, bad storm, so we are prepared right now to have equipment available just in case we need it.”
However, with road conditions not safe for anyone, it might not be a quick repair.
“We’re definitely concerned about the safety of our employees, because, right now especially, if there’s ice on the road, and ice… driving… other public as well, too, so that’s one of our concerns as well," said Ortega. "We tell them to take their time, and be careful on the road.”
The electricity could also be impacted by branches of trees.
“When you get so much ice on power lines or limbs, of course they’ll probably break and fall on the power lines, and that’s one of the issues that we run into," said Ortega.
There is a simple response to take if you see a power line knocked down.
“Stay away from the power lines if you see them in the ground, because we don’t know if they’re energized or not," said Ortega. "So, just call 9-1-1, or also, if you’re registered, call Oncor, call your provider, whoever you can to get there safely.”
There are ways to stay connected with Oncor regarding individual power situations on Wednesday.
Those resources include texting "REG" to 66267, downloading the MyOncor App, following Oncor on Facebook and Twitter, or by calling 888-313-4747.