AMARILLO, Texas (Feb. 17, 2021) – Slight improvements in natural gas fuel deliveries to power plants and conservation by customers of Xcel Energy and other utilities helped prevent controlled outages on Wednesday across the Panhandle and South Plains regions of Texas and eastern and southeastern New Mexico.
Even so, electricity supply remains extremely tight through at least Thursday. Xcel Energy, regional electric cooperatives and municipal systems such as Lubbock Power & Light, are extending appeals to area electric customers to reduce energy use through Thursday and help avoid further disruptions.
“Electric customers have done a fantastic job responding to calls for energy conservation, and we can see the results as morning peak energy use has fallen,” said David Hudson, president, Xcel Energy – New Mexico, Texas. “The natural gas delivery issues are still persisting, however, and we’re expecting another night of really low temperatures. It’s critical that we continue conserving electricity until producers can get the gas flowing again as temperatures begin to rise.”
Hudson said natural gas production is off because of the extreme cold, and supplies are freezing up in the wellfields, limiting the amount of gas that can be delivered over pipelines to power plants across the region and beyond. This is occurring across multiple states, including all of Texas.
“We are so appreciative of the sacrifices our customers have made the past few days, especially their willingness to turn down heat to help preserve the continuity of the power grid,” Hudson said. “Their efforts have really paid off.”
* Electric cooperatives in the Texas South Plains, Texas Panhandle and eastern and southeastern New Mexico regions include:
- Bailey County Electric Cooperative Association (Texas)
- Big Country Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- Greenbelt Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- Lamb County Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- Lighthouse Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- Lyntegar Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- North Plains Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- Rita Blanca Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- South Plains Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- Swisher Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Texas)
- Central Valley Electric Cooperative (New Mexico)
- Farmers Electric Cooperative (New Mexico)
- Roosevelt County Electric Cooperative (New Mexico)
- Lea County Electric Cooperative (New Mexico)