DALLAS (February 2, 2023) – Oncor and mutual assistance personnel continue to work night and day to restore power outages caused by the winter storm. Overnight bands of freezing rain have led to ice accumulations as high as a quarter of an inch in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, which has increased local outages.

Communities in Oncor’s eastern, northeastern and southern regions, including Tyler, Sulphur Springs and Taylor, continue to experience the greatest impacts, with ice accumulations reaching half an inch. Ice can increase the weight of tree branches up to 30 times, leading to sagging or broken braches impacting lines, and add hundreds of pounds of extra weight to power lines.

In some of these areas, falling limbs and trees have caused extensive damage to electric infrastructure, requiring various teams of responding personnel and multiple repairs along lines before power can be safely restored. In these cases, vegetation management crews must clear debris so restoration personnel can access the area, remove damaged equipment and re-set or re-install utility poles, equipment and power lines.

Responding personnel have also been traveling across extremely hazardous and icy road conditions, which has impacted response times. While road conditions are expected to improve throughout the day, customers are encouraged to remain cautious and help keep roadways clear for restoration personnel and other first responders.

As temperatures climb above freezing and winter precipitation ceases across the service area, melting ice may cause sagging branches to suddenly spring up into lines, causing additional outage impacts. Resources and personnel are closely monitoring weather conditions and will continue to respond as outages occur.

Customers can report outages and receive updates by downloading the MyOncor App and following Oncor on Facebook and Twitter, or by calling 888.313.4747. If you see a downed power line, stay away, keep people away and call 911 immediately.

Safety for employees and the public remains Oncor’s number one priority. Customers are encouraged to stay weather aware and be cautious on roadways. Should anyone see a downed power line, please stay away, keep pets and others away and call 911 immediately.

Additionally, while prioritized during power restoration events, critical care designations do not guarantee an uninterrupted power supply, especially during severe weather. Customers who rely on electricity for life-saving medical devices should have a plan in place in case of power outages. 

Local, individual and family resources can also be found on the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM)’s January Winter Storm 2023 webpage here. Information on local warming centers can also be found on TDEM’s website at TDEM.Texas.gov/warm.  

ERCOT, the governing body that oversees the power system for much of Texas, is closely monitoring conditions. Oncor will follow ERCOT’s direction and echo updates to customers. It is important to remember that Oncor is a transmission and distribution company, or “the poles and wires company” that delivers electricity to more than 10 million Texans. Oncor does not own or operate power generation facilities, or sell, purchase or offer electricity retail services.

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Headquartered in Dallas, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC is a regulated electricity distribution and transmission business that uses superior asset management skills to provide reliable electricity delivery to consumers. Oncor (together with its subsidiaries) operates the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas, delivering power to more than 3.8 million homes and businesses and operating more than 140,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas. While Oncor is owned by two investors (indirect majority owner, Sempra, and minority owner, Texas Transmission Investment LLC), Oncor is managed by its Board of Directors, which is comprised of a majority of disinterested directors.