Power outages across the Rio Grande Valley (2024)

Editor’s Note: This story is no longer being updated.

HARLINGEN, Texas (KVEO) — We are keeping up with the power outages in the Rio Grande Valley.

Brownsville PUB outages can be found here

AEP outages can be found here.

Magic Valley outages can be found here.

2/20 4:44 p.m.

BPUB crews are still working on restoring power to those affected by power outages due to equipment-related issues.

2/20 10:32 a.m.

MVEC crews are working to restore power. A statement says the outages remaining are isolated outages. If you are still without power and are with MVEC, call 866-225-5683 and report the outage even if you have already done so.

2/19-6 a.m.

Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) crews are out in the field restoring electricity to customers who lost power due to equipment-related service issues.

“Crews are troubleshooting the areas affected and will be providing an estimated time of restoration as soon as it becomes available.”

2/19 – 5:08 a.m.

BPUB crews are working on restoring power to areas affected by NON-ROTATING outages, those who lost power due to equipment-related issues.

BPUB has hired a company to help restore power to about 200 homes. Crews were seen working early Friday morning. Officials say they are servicing underground lines.

2/18 – 11:00 p.m.

AEP states it has restored power to 93 percent of customers as of 10:30 p.m.

They are continuing to work “as quickly and safely as possible” to restore power to those who need it.

2/18 – 2:50 p.m.

Magic Valley EC is suspending rotating outages throughout its service territory.

If the power grid experiences a shortage again, ERCOT may order more rolling blackouts.

MVEC is asking customers to be mindful of their power usage.

“MVEC’s focus for today will be to get members who have been without power the longest, back
on first. If you are still without power, please report your outage on magicvalley.coop or by
calling 866-225-5683.”

2/18–10:23 a.m.

AEP Texas reminds customers who remain without power to turn off heating and all other electric systems and appliances to enable smoother service restoration.

Also, unplug from the wall any electronic devices such as computers and televisions. Once power is restored, you should switch the devices back on gradually over the following 30-to-45 minutes. Taking this step will help prevent new outages as service is restored in your area.

2/18–9:45 a.m.

According to AEP, crews have begun restoring power and will work around the clock.

If you still do not have electric service, please place all major appliances in the “Off” position. This will help crews restore service more quickly.

2/18–8:20 a.m.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said they have made significant progress overnight restoring customer power, although some outages still remain throughout the state.

Energy emergency conditions remain as the grid operator and transmission owners work to restore the remaining customers that are without power.

Customers that remain without power likely fall into one of these three categories:

· Areas out due to ice storm damage on the distribution system

· Areas that were taken out of service due to the energy emergency load shed that need to be restored manually (i.e., sending a crew to the location to reenergize the line)

· Large industrial facilities that voluntarily went offline to help during this energy emergency

2/18 – 5:49 a.m.

BPUB has suspended rotating outages to their customers, until further notice. BPUB may begin rotating outages again if the demand starts to exceed available power generation, said a release. Customers are asked to continue conserving electricity.

2/17 – 10:45 p.m.

AEP Texas’s latest statement:

“AEP Texas restored electric service to approximately 125,000 customers Wednesday and increased rotation of electricity as generation increases on the electrical grid.

“AEP Texas remains focused on restoring power to customers who have been without power for the longest. There is limited flexibility on where power can be redirected, but restoration to those who have been impacted the longest is the top priority.”

There are still 285,000 Texans without power as of 9 p.m. Wednesday.

2/17 – 8:45 p.m.

Areas with Power Restored (through Brownsville Public Utilities Board):

• Feeder services 1232 customers in the area of E 7th to International & from E Elizabeth to E Pierce and surrounding streets.
• Feeder services 358 customers in the area of Belvedere; Ringgold; E 6th; Ebony Ave; S & N Frontage Rd; Paredes Ave and surrounding streets.
• Feeder services 1273 customers in the area of S Central; Morningside Loop; Southmost Blvd; Garcia Ln; Apollo Avenue including 477 customers from Acacia Lake; S Clubhouse; Billy Mitchell; Les Mauldin; South Airport Loop and surrounding streets.
• Feeder services 1232 customers in the area of E 7th to International & from E Elizabeth to E Pierce and surrounding streets.

2/17 – 8:00 p.m.

Areas with Power Restored (through Brownsville Public Utilities Board)

• 1794 electric meters along W. Los Ebanos Blvd., Honeydale Rd., Emerald Ln., Catherine Ln., Russell Dr., El Paso Rd., Center Dr., French River Dr., Wild Olive Ln., and surrounding streets
• 328 customers in the area of Ridgemott, Padre Island Hwy, Mckenzie, Timber, White Oak and surrounding streets

2/17 – 7:30 p.m.

According to Governor Greg Abbott, the state is restoring power to 200 thousand homes every hour.

Abbott states a power generation system has allowed 1.6 million Texas homes to have their power turned on Wednesday.

Additionally, ERCOT says it is instructing power companies to turn on electricity to more Texans.

“We are working around the clock to restore power to Texans,” said ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness. “We made progress today, but it will not be good enough until every person has their power back.”

“It is possible that by morning, as load increases, local utilities may be able to go back to rotating outages versus keeping power off for extended periods of time.”

2/17 – 5:00 p.m.

Magic Valley Electric Cooperative’s latest statement:

MVEC is advising residents still without power to report outages so that the company can work to fix outages as soon as possible.

“As of this afternoon we still have over 6,000 members without power. We started this morning with over 24,000 outages and crews have been making progress in getting members back on.

“We are still under ERCOT’s Energy Emergency Alert 3, which means that rotating outages are still happening across our service area and across the state.”

2/17–7:15 p.m.

Areas with Power Restored

• 518 customers in the area of Padre Island Hwy; NAFTA Pkwy; Lourdes Ave; Jaime Zapata; N Central Ave and surrounding streets
• 729 customers along Central Blvd, Military Hwy, East Dr, Jo Ann Ln, Water St, East Dr and surrounding streets
• 741 electric meters along Galveston Rd, Candlewick Ct, Sunshine Rd, E. Price Rd, North Park Plaza and surrounding streets

• Approx. 1453 customers along Paredes Line Rd., Lindale Dr., Mackinstosh Dr., E. Los Ebanos Blvd., S. Price Rd., Shidler Dr., Rentfro Blvd. and surrounding streets.

• 404 customers located on FM 802; Artemisa Ave; San Marcelo Blvd; Toluca Dr; Sunrise Blvd; Old Alice Rd; Jose Marti Blvd; Coffeeport Cir and the surrounding streets.

• 1837 customers located on McKenzie Rd; Central Ave; S Clubhouse Rd; Boca Chica Blvd; Central Cir; Kee St; Marcia St; San Antonio Rd; Iowa Ave; Lucy Cir; Highland Terrace; Las Mitras Ln; Bennett Dr; Augusta Rd; and surrounding streets.

Areas with Power Shed (No Power)

• Approx. 1453 customers along Paredes Line Rd., Lindale Dr., Mackinstosh Dr., E. Los Ebanos Blvd., S. Price Rd., Shidler Dr., Rentfro Blvd. and surrounding streets
• 1750 customers in the area of Naranjo Rd; Villa Los Pinos Sub; Los Vecinos Sub; Olmito Estates Sub
• 1736 meters in the area of Land-o-Lakes; E Price Rd; Padre Island Hwy; Fruitdale; Robindale; Jaime Zapata Ave and surrounding streets
• 176 customers in the area of Robinhood Dr, E 14th St, Taft and E 13th St and surrounding streets

2/17–1:39 p.m.

AEP latest statement.

“ERCOT is bringing more generation back online and allowing us to restore power to some customers today. The generation issue is still very fluid.

As we saw yesterday, right after restoring power to a few circuits, we were asked to drop more load.

One issue we encounter when restoring circuits is that most customers without power have heaters, water heaters and other large appliances that will come on immediately. AS all this load comes back on at one time it will cause the breaker to trip on overload. We are asking customers to turn these appliances off and turn them back on after power is restored. Help in pushing this message out is appreciated. Thanks.”

9:33 a.m.

BPUB Rotating Outage Update —

Areas with Power Restored

• Linda Vista Dr; Mayfield Ln; Alan Dale Dr; Windcrest Dr; PUB Dr; and surrounding streets
• N. Coria St., E. Los Ebanos Blvd., Cypress Dr., W. Price Rd., Boca Chica Blvd. and surrounding streets
• Country Club Rd, Wildrose Ln, Coria St, Central Blvd, Pecan St, Colonal Dr, Mirasol Ave, Rosita St, Price Rd and the surrounding streets

Areas with Power Shed (No Power)

• Robinhood Dr, E 14th St, Taft and E 13th St and surrounding streets
• Belvedere; Ringgold; E 6th; Ebony Ave; S & N Frontage Rd; Paredes Ave and surrounding streets

2/17 — 8:15 a.m.

BPUB is working to restore electricity to areas that have been affected by equipment issues. They say these are not rotating outages.

2/16—8 p.m.

ERCOT has directed AEP Texas to reduce load on the electrical grid again. Please prepare for more power outages, and for current power outages to continue. AEP Texas crews and employees are ready to begin full restoration of electric service as soon as power is available.

2/16—3:15 p.m.

Update from BPUB:

Areas with Power Restored

Salida De Luna; Ruben Torres Blvd; N Central Ave; Towerwood Dr; Commercial Dr; Mar St; San Luis Dr; San Mateo Dr; San Francisco Dr; Wild Bird Ln; Padre Island Hwy; N Illinois Ave; Ted Hunt Dr; and surrounding streets

McKenzie Rd; Central Ave; S Clubhouse Rd; Boca Chica Blvd; Central Cir; Kee St; Marcia St; San Antonio Rd; Iowa Ave; Lucy Cir; Highland Terrace; Las Mitras Ln; Bennett Dr; Augusta Rd; and surrounding streets

Areas with Power Shed (No Power)

E 12th to FJRM Ave & from E Monroe (Ridgely) to S Frontage and surrounding streets

S Central; Morningside Loop; Southmost Blvd; Garcia Ln; Apollo Avenue including including 477 customers from D5220 servicing the area of Acacia Lake; S Clubhouse; Billy Mitchell; Les Mauldin; South Airport Loop and surrounding street

2/16— 3:06 p.m.

The largest outages in the Rio Grande Valley area are in Harlingen with 12,019 reported incidents, as shown on the AEP website.

AEP is reporting a total of 369,154 outages.

Magic Valley report:

-Cameron County: 5,501

-Hidalgo County: 20,170

-Willacy County: 438

-Starr County: 0

Update from BPUB:

Areas with Power Restored

Kings Hwy, Boca Chica, Texas Ave, Coolidge, Santa Elena, E 23rd St, Ruiz St, Southmost, E 20th St and surrounding streets

Areas with Power Shed (No Power)

E 7th to International & from E Elizabeth to E Pierce and surrounding streets

2/16— 11:40 a.m.

The largest outages in the Rio Grande Valley area are in Edinburg with 8,832 reported incidents, as shown on the AEP website.

AEP is reporting a total of 398,089 outages.

Magic Valley report:

• Cameron County: 5501
• Hidalgo County: 20926
• Starr County: 0
• Willacy County: 438

2/16– 11:25 a.m.

Update from BPUB

Areas with Power Restored

Riverside Blvd.; W. & E. Fronton & St. Francis; E. 10th St.; W. University Blvd. and surrounding streets

Areas with Power Shed (No Power)

Galveston Road, Candlewick Ct., Sunshine Road, E. Price Road, North Park Plaza and surrounding streets

2/16— 10:56 am.

Update from BPUB

Areas with Power Restored

Robinhood Drive, E. 14th St., Taft and E. 13th St. and surrounding streets

Areas with Power Shed (No Power)

Colonia Galaxia, Hacienda West & Rancho Simpatico subdivisions, Veterans High School, Villa Nueva Elementary, La Pesca St., El Mar St., El Brillo St. and surrounding streets

2/16–10:27 a.m.

ERCOT announces a scheme circulating on social media asking customers to text their private account numbers. Don’t do it!

2/16– 8 a.m.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) instructed AEP Texas and other electric utilities to increase the number of service interruptions in addition to the existing interruptions.

AEP outages increased from 367,000 to 441,000.

2/14– 7:40 a.m.

Edinburg issues boil water notice to residents

Edinburg issues boil water notice

2/16 — 7:03 a.m.

Update from BPUB

Areas with Power Restored: Naranjo Rd: Villa Los Pinos Sub; Los Vecinos Sub; Olmito Estates Sub.

Areas with Power Shed (No Power): Paredes Ln, La Villita, Emerald Valley, Emerald Cove, La Mancha Dr, Galveston Rd, Candlewick Apts., Palo Alto Subd, Price Rd and surrounding streets

Therotating outageswill continue until ERCOT instructs BPUB to discontinue.

5:30 p.m.

AEP Texas states that “power outages will most likely continue for the rest of today, possibly into Tuesday.”

5 p.m.

Military Highway Water Supply Corporation is asking customer to conserve water as much as possible during these severe cold weather. The Texas Electric grid is experiencing a very high usage and causing several power outages.

Please call our Answering Service (1-800-580-8381) to report any water leak or emergency.

2:52 p.m.

The largest outages in the Rio Grande Valley area in the Mission area with 3,009 reported incidents, as shown on the AEP website.

AEP is reporting a total of 348,474 outages.

Magic Valley report:

• Cameron County: 3,236
• Hidalgo County: 2,6478
• Starr County: 535
• Willacy County: 20

Brownsville PUB from 1:30 p.m.

The following is an update on areas being impacted by rotating outages. BPUB will send these bulletins out as the information is received. Please understand that this information can change quickly.

Areas to lose power

Los Ebanos Blvd., Honeydale Rd., Emerald Ln., Catherine Ln., Russell Dr., El Paso Rd., Center Dr., French River Dr., Wild Olive Ln., and surrounding streets

Areas to regain power

Padre Island Hwy; NAFTA Pkwy; Lourdes Ave; Jaime Zapata; N Central Ave and surrounding streets; Port of Brownsville (Capt Donald Foust & RL Ostos); N Indiana and surrounding streets

12:00 p.m.

AEP will continue cutting electricity from residents as they work to remove power from the ERCOT systems. “If you are currently experiencing an outage, you will likely be out of power for an extended period of time while this state of emergency continues.”

8:54 a.m.

The largest outages in the Rio Grande Valley area in the Mission area with 19,229 reported incidents and in the Edinburg area with 4,898. The Harlingen area is showing 4,072 outages, as shown on the AEP website.

AEP is reporting a total 344, 616 of outages.

4:28 a.m.

The largest outages in the Rio Grande Valley area in the Mission area with 13,669 reported incidents and in the Edinburg area with 23,712. The Harlingen area is showing 14,349 outages, as shown on the AEP website.

AEP is reporting a total of 216,982 outages.

Magic Valley is reporting a total of 28,036 power outages across their service area, below are the outages affecting the RGV:

• Hidalgo County: 28,927
• Cameron County: 8,243
• Willacy County: 1
• Starr County: 535

3:30 a.m.

Power Outages are being reported across Hidalgo and Cameron County.

2:35 a.m. (2/15)

The Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) has announced it will be conducting rotating power outages. According to a release, customers will experience electric outages lasting about 30 minutes.

BPUB is asking consumers to reduce energy usage by turning down thermostats a few degrees and avoiding the usage of non-essential appliances or lighting.

1:30 a.m. (2/15)

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued an Energy Emergency Alert, Level 3 and has now begun rotating outages.

ERCOT also instructed AEP Texas to begin temporary power outages across service areas. Outages are expected to last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

7:30 p.m.

Harlingen

Magic Valley Electric Company is experiencing an outage impacting 1,103 customers.

South Padre Island

AEP is experiencing an outage impacting 1,321 customers. Estimated restoration time is 9:30 p.m.