AEP Texas and Hidalgo County reported nearly 7,000 customers without power overnight Thursday as the arctic blast blew through the Rio Grande Valley.
The county took to Twitter late Thursday night, just a few hours into temperatures dropping drastically from the mid 60s to mid 40s, to announce power outages affecting 6,800 AEP Texas customers in the area.
.@AEPTexas is reporting 6,800 customers in Hidalgo County with power outages at this hour. pic.twitter.com/U5FMh4Y4GY
— Hidalgo County (@HidalgoCounty) December 23, 2022
Magic Valley Electric Cooperative is also reporting 2,300 customers without power via its outage map here.
Magic Valley reporting 2,300 of its customers are without power at this hour pic.twitter.com/Vs6b7bewZM
— Hidalgo County (@HidalgoCounty) December 23, 2022
The power outages arrived almost simultaneously with the drop in temperatures which has been forecast to drop below freezing through Christmas weekend, thanks to an arctic blast impacting the nation.
It also comes nearly two years after the February 2021 freeze decimated much of the region’s infrastructure and left millions of Texans in the cold, spawning political debate and calls to ERCOT to address what many believe is a vulnerable power grid in Texas.
Many have pressured Gov. Greg Abbott’s office to push for power stability against severe weather events or natural disasters.
Stay with myrgv.com for more weather-related updates.
Icing and sleet possible in some parts of the Rio Grande Valley
