[Austin Energy Press Conference on Potential Outages]
[00:00:05]
I'M BOB KAHN, GENERAL MANAGER OF AUSTIN ENERGY.
I'M HERE THIS MORNING BECAUSE WE WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FOR OUTAGES IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN.
99% OF AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS ARE NOT IMPACTED BY THIS ISSUE, AND WE ARE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO ENSURE THAT THOSE CUSTOMERS THAT ARE HAVE A PERMANENT SOLUTION.
AT AROUND 8:00 PM LAST NIGHT, A TRANSFORMER AT A SOUTHWEST AUSTIN SUBSTATION WENT OFFLINE AND 6,400 CUSTOMERS LOST POWER CREWS IMMEDIATELY RESPONDED TO THE ISSUE AND REROUTED POWER TO OTHER EQUIPMENT.
THIS WORK RESTORED POWER TO ALL AFFECTED CUSTOMERS, BUT IT IS A TEMPORARY FIX.
WE'RE STRETCHING WHAT THAT EQUIPMENT IS CAPABLE OF WITH THE HOT TEMPERATURES WE'RE EXPECTING TODAY, THAT EQUIPMENT COULD OVERLOAD, CAUSING MORE OUTAGES FOR THE CUSTOMERS IN THIS AREA.
THESE OUTAGES MAY NOT HAPPEN THOUGH, BUT WE WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY SO YOU CAN PREPARE YOUR HOME AND YOUR FAMILY.
I WANT YOU TO KNOW WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING.
AUSTIN ENERGY CREWS HAVE BEEN WORKING THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT TO INVESTIGATE THE ISSUE AND FIND A PERMANENT SOLUTION.
IN THE MEANTIME, WE NEED YOUR HELP IN TWO WAYS.
WE NEED YOU TO PREPARE AND WE NEED YOU TO CONSERVE.
SO LET ME TALK ABOUT PREPARING FIRST.
FIRST, WE WANNA LET YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON SO YOU CAN PREPARE ACCORDINGLY.
CUSTOMERS IN THE SOUTHWEST AUSTIN AREA SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POTENTIAL POWER OUTAGES.
REVIEW YOUR EMERGENCY PLANS AND CHECK YOUR EMERGENCY KITS.
CUSTOMERS WHO EXPERIENCE OUTAGES CAN MINIMIZE POWER SURGES BY TURNING OFF APPLIANCES, LIGHTS, AND OTHER EQUIPMENT.
YOU CAN ALSO FIND COOLING CENTER LOCATIONS AND HOURS OF OPERATIONS@AUSTINTEXAS.GOV SLASH ALERTS.
SO LET ME TALK ABOUT CONSERVATION AND WE ALSO NEED YOUR HELP ON THAT.
CONSERVATION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, AND I KNOW WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE IN OTHER PRESS CONFERENCES.
CUSTOMERS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD USE AS LITTLE ENERGY AS AS SAFELY POSSIBLE, ESPECIALLY BETWEEN TWO AND 8:00 PM TONIGHT.
HERE ARE SOME ENERGY SAVING TIPS.
RAISE THERMOSTATS BY A FEW DEGREES FOR CENTRAL AIR.
DO NOT CLOSE VENTS AND UNUSED ROOMS. THIS COULD INCREASE PRESSURE AND CAUSE DUCT LEAKS FOR WINDOW UNITS.
CLOSE OFF, UNUSED ROOMS, CLOSE SHADES AND CURTAINS ON WINDOWS.
HIT BY DIRECT SUNLIGHT TO PREVENT HEAT FROM GETTING INDOORS.
AVOID TURNING ON THE OVEN DURING THE HOTTEST TIME OF THE DAY.
UNPLUG APPLIANCES, CHARGERS, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICES WHEN NOT IN USE, THEY USE ENERGY EVEN WHEN THEY'RE TURNED OFF FOR MORE CONSERVATION TIPS AT AUSTIN.
AND YOU CAN FIND THAT@AUSTINENERGY.COM SLASH SUMMER.
SO LET ME TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO, TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE.
WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO PREVENT ANY MORE OUTAGES.
AUSTIN ENERGY IS TESTING THE EXISTING TRANSFORMERS TO SEE IF IT CAN BE BACK PUT, IF IT CAN BE PUT BACK INTO SERVICE.
IF THOSE RESULTS COME BACK GOOD.
THAT EQUIPMENT COULD BE BACK IN SERVICE THIS AFTERNOON TO LOWER THE RISK OF OUTAGES.
WHILE WE'RE DOING THAT, WE'RE ALSO WORKING ON A PLAN B.
WE'RE MOVING A TEMPORARY TRANSFORMER TO THE SUBSTATION TO SERVE CUSTOMERS IF IT'S NEEDED.
THIS TEMPORARY TRANSFORMER THOUGH, COULD TAKE 24 HOURS TO GET UP AND RUNNING.
SO THERE'S STILL A RISK OF OUTAGES TODAY WITH THAT PLAN.
AGAIN, WE ARE LOOKING AT ALL OPTIONS TO SOLVE THIS ISSUE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, AND WE'RE COMING TO YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WITH THE INFORMATION WE HAVE.
WE WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED AS WE KNOW MORE.
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND WE ESPECIALLY WANNA THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN CONSERVING ENERGY AND PREPARING FOR ANY OUTAGES YOU AND YOUR FAMILY, UH, WHATEVER IT MAY BRING TODAY.
BUT I DO WANNA ASSURE YOU WE'RE NOT GONNA STOP WORKING ON THIS UNTIL WE FIND A PERMANENT SOLUTION FOR THIS.
UH, WITH THAT WE'LL TURN IT OVER TO ANY QUESTIONS.
I HAVE LISA MARTIN WITH ME, SHE'S OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
SO, UH, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL BEING HERE AND TAKING THE TIME TO, TO BE HERE TODAY.
UH, BE GLAD TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
YEAH, I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN AND EAST AUSTIN THE NIGHT BEFORE LEFT WAS NOT ABLE TO HANDLE PREDICTABLE DEMAND.
IS THAT CORRECT? UH, YOU KNOW WHAT, LISA, YOU I WAS JUST TALKING TO THE TEAM ABOUT THIS.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THESE TWO OUTAGES ARE UNRELATED.
UM, THE WEDNESDAY'S OUTAGE IN EAST AUSTIN, WE KNOW THE CAUSE IT WAS RELATED TO THE HEAT, IT WAS RELATED TO
[00:05:01]
HIGH DEMAND, UH, CAUSED BY HIGH ENERGY USAGE, UH, BECAUSE OF THE HOT TEMPERATURES.AND THAT EXCEEDED A THRESHOLD ON OUR PROTECTION SYSTEM, WHICH CAUSED THAT TRANSFORMER TO TRIP.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO ADJUST THOSE SETTINGS TO A PERMANENT SOLUTION AND GET THAT ONE BACK IN SERVICE.
SO EVERYTHING'S GOOD AT EAST AUSTIN SUBSTATION.
UM, THE, WE DON'T YET KNOW WHAT THE ISSUE IS THAT'S CAUSING THE OUTAGE AT THE, UH, SUBSTATION IN THE SOUTHWEST, UM, AUSTIN OUTAGE.
UM, WE BELIEVE SOMETHING MAY HAVE CAUSED A FAULT, BUT WE WON'T KNOW THAT UNTIL WE CONTINUE TO DO TESTS.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH THE NIGHT DOING VARIOUS TESTS AND CHECKING OFF WHAT IT'S NOT.
WE KNOW ONE THING FOR CERTAIN, WE'RE PRETTY, WE KNOW IT'S NOT RELATED TO THE HEAT.
AND SO, UH, WE'RE DOING LAB TESTS, WE'RE DOING FIELD TESTS, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT CAUSE IS SO WE CAN CREATE THE PERMANENT SOLUTION.
THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE ARE WORKING TWO PATHS IN PARALLEL SO THAT WE CAN GET POWER RESTORED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
UM, BACK TO NORMAL CONFIGURATION.
I DO WANNA REITERATE THAT RIGHT NOW POWER HAS BEEN RESTORED TO ALL THE CUSTOMERS THAT WERE AFFECTED.
IT WAS RESTORED WITHIN THREE HOURS.
AND SO WE'RE JUST HERE TO PREPARE PEOPLE IN CASE TODAY'S TEMPORARY SOLUTION CAUSES EXTRA STRAIN ON THE GRID AND CAUSES SOME UNEXPECTED OUTAGES.
SO THOSE CUSTOMERS WHO WERE IN THE AREAS OF OUTAGE THE LAST COUPLE OF NIGHTS, LAST COUPLE OF DAYS, ARE THEY STILL PAY PAYING FOR THAT POWER THAT THEY COULDN'T USE DURING THOSE OUTAGES? NO.
CUSTOMERS NEVER PAY FOR POWER THAT THEY DON'T USE.
UM, AND THEN THEY, THE, THE, THE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT WENT OFFLINE, UH, LAST NIGHT, YOU WERE STILL TRYING TO FIX IT.
IS THERE ANY WAY TO ROUTE AROUND IT OR, YES, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THAT IS WHAT WE DID.
WE ROUTED AROUND IT AND WE RESTORED POWER TO ALL THE CUSTOMERS WITHIN THREE HOURS, MANY OF THEM WELL BEFORE THAT.
SO ALL THOSE CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN RESTORED AND WE ARE LOOKING TO FIGURE OUT A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO EITHER BRING THE EXISTING TRANSFORMER BACK ONLINE OR TO USE THE TEMPORARY TRANSFORMER THAT BOB HAS TALKED ABOUT, UM, WHILE WE GET A NEW TRANSFORMER IN THERE.
AND WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO'VE GOT TO BE FRUSTRATED WITH POWER OUTAGES BY THIS, BUT NOT JUST THESE, BUT GOING BACK TO 2021, THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF POWER OUTAGES AS YOU KNOW, BETWEEN AUSTIN ENERGY AND ERCOT OR ENCORE.
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE SAYING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TIRED OF THIS? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
WE SAY WE COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND YOUR FRUSTRATION.
WE EXPERIENCE THE OUTAGES AS WELL.
OUTAGES HAPPEN ACROSS ALL THE SYSTEMS ACROSS AMERICA FOR MANY REASONS.
SOMETIMES IT'S BECAUSE OF LIGHTNING.
SOMETIMES IT'S BECAUSE OF, UH, AN ANIMAL HITTING A A OR, OR A CAR HITTING A TRANS, UH, A POLE.
UM, SOMETIMES A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT FAILS.
UM, BUT WE HAVE CREWS WHO, UH, ARE AT THE READY ALL THE TIME TO RESPOND TO THOSE OUTAGES.
AND WE HAVE OPERATORS WHO ARE MONITORING THE SYSTEM, UH, 24 7 EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR, UM, TO RESPOND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE TO DO, IS TO RESTORE POWER TO OUR COMMUNITY.
DO Y'ALL HAVE AN IDEA OF SHOULD THERE BE OUTAGES TODAY WHERE PEOPLE WOULD BE IMPACTED AND HOW MANY PEOPLE MIGHT BE IMPACTED? WELL, WELL, SO, UH, I, I ANSWER IT THIS WAY.
WE'RE IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH HESO AND PARD.
IF THERE'S A CONCERN ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE COULD DO AND UH, WE HAVE TARGETED SOCIAL MEDIA TO THE COMMUNITY THAT'S IMPACTED AND WE WILL LET PEOPLE KNOW IF THERE'S AN OUTAGE, HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO TO, TO KEEP YOUR FAMILY SAFE.
HOW MANY PEOPLE MIGHT IT BE? UH, THERE WERE 6,400 PEOPLE THAT WERE IMPACTED.
AND LIKE I SAID EARLIER, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE DANGER OR RISK WHERE THERE COULD BE A PROBLEM IS BECAUSE OF THE REROUTING.
IF IT GETS HOTTER TWO TO 8:00 PM THAT'S WHERE THERE COULD BE AN ISSUE.
WHAT DO MEAN MORE PEOPLE AND WERE AFFECTED LAST NIGHT SINCE YOU REROUTED POWER.
SO WHAT, WHAT NUMBER ARE WE LOOKING AT OF PEOPLE TONIGHT WHO COULD BE AFFECTED? SO IT'S POSSIBLE THAT A DI DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE A POWER OUTAGE TODAY THAN THE PEOPLE THAT WERE AFFECTED LAST NIGHT.
AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS WE TOOK THE 6,400 CUSTOMERS THAT WERE AFFECTED LAST NIGHT AND WE REDISTRIBUTED THEM ACROSS A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT CIRCUITS.
AND SO IF ANY ONE OF THOSE CIRCUITS HAS EXCESSIVE USAGE, THEN IT COULD TRIP THAT OUT.
SOMETIMES THAT'S A THOUSAND PEOPLE, SOMETIMES IT'S 3000 PEOPLE.
WE ARE BRINGING EXTRA CREWS IN.
WE'VE ACTIVATED OUR INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM, SO WE STAND AT THE READY TO RESPOND TO ANY OF THOSE OUTAGES.
UM, AND WE ARE PLANNING, UH, CONTINGENCY PLANS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
IS THERE A MONITOR THOSE CIRCUITS BEFORE THEY TRIP OR BEFORE SOMETHING HAPPENS TO THEM? ABSOLUTELY, YES.
HOW DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO MONITOR? UM, SO WE HAVE A CONTROL ROOM WHERE OUR SYSTEM OPERATORS ARE CONSTANTLY LOOKING AT, UH, THE DISTRIBUTION AND THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.
AND THERE ARE SENSORS THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM THAT MEASURE VARIOUS VARIABLES THAT KEEP THE SYSTEM STABLE AND THEY ALL HAVE
[00:10:01]
ALARMS ON THEM TO, TO NOTIFY.THERE'S SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT ABNORMAL HERE AND THEY HAVE MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ALARMS. SO WHEN THEY START TO SEE THOSE FIRST ALARMS, THEY CAN TAKE ACTION.
AND REROUTING POWER IS ONE OF THE, UH, QUICKEST AND, AND MOST STABLE WAYS TO, UH, RESTORE POWER.
DO YOU HAVE A PREDICTION FOR, OR A PROJECTION FOR WHAT THE DEMAND WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN OR FOR AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS TODAY? I KNOW YOU CAN SEE 'EM ON THE
UM, WE ACTUALLY HIT A PEAK DEMAND RECORD EARLIER THIS WEEK WITH THE EXTREME HIGH TEMPERATURES.
UM, AND WE ARE EXPECTING THAT IT'LL BE LOWER TODAY.
AND SO THAT'S GOOD NEWS FOR THIS SYSTEM.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ALRIGHT, THANK YOU EVERYONE.