Thread: Mexico Pitching in Electric Power for Texas

Mexico Pitching in Power for Texas

Last Update: 1:31 pm

Texas is getting help from Mexico to deal with power outages. Three Mexican border cities are giving electricity to Texas, but the power companies say we may still have rolling blackouts.

An AEP spokesman says the blackouts are necessary to reduce the electricity overload on the system.

The lieutenant governor says its possible some of the pipes could freeze at the power plants. There are also many power plants that are offline at this time of year for routine maintenance.

The Texas Electric Reliability Council tells power companies across the state to start those rolling blackouts. The power companies say it’s a complex process.

It’s hard to tell which neighborhood will lose power, but even hospitals are not immune to the blackouts. Many of them have backup generators.

Texas is getting electricity help this afternoon from Reynosa, Piedras Negras and Nuevo Laredo. Those three cities are sending us power to help prevent rolling blackouts.

http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Me ... r4SOA.cspx

Update: Mexico suspends energy exports to Texas

Times staff reports
Posted: 02/03/2011 11:50:53 AM MST

Mexico had been sending 280 megawatts through interconnections at Laredo and Eagle Pass to the grid that serves 85 percent of Texas, but not El Paso, to help relieve rolling blackouts in the state.

But then, generators in some energy centers in Mexico were also damaged by the extreme cold. One of the centers was in Samalayuca, a place 30 miles south of Juárez. The Mexican power grid lost 1,000 megawatts in northern Mexico because of the cold.

The commission said in a statement that it has enough reserves to avoid blackouts, but not enough to keep supplying Texas.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17275212

Juárez residents affected by water, power outages

By Adriana Gómez Licón / El Paso Times
Posted: 02/03/2011 01:48:39 PM MST

Hundreds of Juárez residents went without electricity for five hours in Downtown and eastern neighborhoods, said city officials.
Some thermoelectric generators in Samalayuca, 30 miles south of the border, froze, causing the outages in white-collar neighborhoods of Juárez. City officials expect power to come back within the next hour.

Also, 90 percent of the population did not have water this morning, city officials said. Fire hydrants and pipes froze, said Manuel de Santiago, with the civil protection services.

Flights resumed at the international airport this morning, after one day of cancellations.

The city did not report any deaths or fatal accidents on the road. About 110 people are still seeking refuge in the warming shelters.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17283781