As of 2:30 p.m. AEP Texas says approximately 700 customers are without power in the Rio Grande Valley. The outages are in the following cities:
- San Benito – 460
- Weslaco – 150
- Rio Grande City – 30
- Mission – 30
- Harlingen – 15
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9:00 a.m.
HARLINGEN — Nearly 1,000 San Benito customers remained without power as of 8:30 a.m. this morning, AEP Texas reported.
According to the AEP Texas website, more than 7,600 customers in San Benito, Rio Hondo, Rangerville, Los Indios, La Paloma, Lozano and Green Valley Farms lost power yesterday evening.
The power went out shortly after 5 p.m. in a region that stretches from Paso Real to south of FM 732 and from Rio Hondo to U.S. Military Highway 281.
Crews posted stop signs at all the major intersections in San Benito.
An additional outage was reported La Feria where nearly 1,400 customers were without power, but their service has been restored.
More than 5,000 customers in the broad AEP Texas service area in South Texas were without power this morning, with most outages affecting fewer than 100 customers.
In cold weather events earlier this winter season, AEP Texas officials urged people to turn off thermostats if a home or business loses power.
If everybody’s thermostat is on when the power grid comes back up, it can blow AEP circuit breakers all over again as each home’s furnace tries to re-start at the same time.
Make sure you turn off any burners, or your stove’s oven, in case you leave home and forget.
Also, set thermostats to a level two to three degrees cooler than normal so heating systems are not using as much electricity in order to lessen strain on the power grid.
Close blinds and curtains to keep heat from escaping a room.
Only use large appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines or dryers outside of peak usage hours in the early morning and early evening.
