>>>
>>> WE
>>> WE ARE FOLLOWING BREAKING NEWS.
NEWS.
NEWS. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE IN A
SITUATION WITHOUT POWER THIS
MORNING.
MORNING.
MORNING. TEMPERATURES ARE WELL BELOW
FREEZING WITH WIND CHILLS THIS
MORNING.
MORNING.
MORNING. ERCOT EXPECTS THESE OUTAGES TO
BE IN PLACE UNTIL THE WEATHER
EMERGENCY AND . THAT IS
COMPLICATED CONSIDERING THAT
THE WEATHER WILL BE ROUGH FOR
THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
JASON WHITELY JUST GOT OFF THE
PHONE WITH THE CEO OF ERCOT.
THIS MAY BE THE PERSON THAT
PEOPLE HIT THE MOST RIGHT NOW.
>> Reporter: TO ANSWER THE
QUESTION, WHEN IS THIS GOING TO
BE OVER WITH?
THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
AND IT'S A SPECIFIC THAT HE
COULD NOT GIVE ME.
WE SPOKE TO BILL MAGNUS, THE
CEO OF ERCOT ABOUT 30 MINUTES
AGO . THAT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST
THINGS THAT WE SAID.
THE WEATHER LOOKS LIKE IT'S
GOING TO IMPROVE BY THURSDAY
AND FRIDAY.
AND FRIDAY. DOES THAT MEAN THAT THE POWER
WILL BE BACK ON?
HE COULD NOT QUITE SAY THAT.
I ASKED HIM ABOUT THROUGH THE
WEEKEND AND HE DID NOT THINK SO.
HE SAID THE TOP PRIORITY IS
GETTING PEOPLE BACK ON AS
QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
THERE WERE A FEW INTERESTING
NUMBERS THAT HE SHARED TODAY.
HE SAID THAT RIGHT NOW THERE ARE
45,000 OFF-LINE.
45,000 OFF-LINE. LET ME GIVE YOU SOME CONTEXT ON
THAT.
THAT.
THAT. THE
THAT. THE STATE EATS UP 65 TO 70,000
MEGAWATTS IN A DAY. ONE SINGLE
MEGAWATT CAN POWER 500 HOMES.
THAT'S A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT.
45,000 MEGAWATTS OFF-LINE
TODAY.
TODAY.
TODAY. YESTERDAY ERCOT ANNOUNCED THAT
34,000 MEGAWATTS WERE OFF-LINE.
SO IT LOOKS LIKE JUST COMPARING
NUMBERS HERE THAT THE SITUATION
IS DETERIORATING.
IS DETERIORATING. HE SAID THAT THEY ARE NOT DOING
THAT.
THAT.
THAT. HE
THAT. HE DID NOT THINK THAT WAS A
FAIR CHARACTERIZATION.
FAIR CHARACTERIZATION. HE SAID THAT THE SITUATION IS
STABLE BUT YOU CAN'T REALLY SAY
THAT THE FOLKS THAT ARE SITTING
IN COLD, DARK HOUSES.
IS IT STABLE?
HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS.
IF THE SYSTEM GOES INTO
UNCONTROLLED OUTAGES THEN THAT
MEANS THAT ERCOT AND OTHERS
CANNOT CONTROL WHERE THINGS
ARE GOING OUT.
HOSPITALS CAN GO OUT AND 911
CALL CENTERS AND OTHER THINGS.
THE OTHER INTERESTING THING
THAT HE SAID WAS THAT HE
COMPLETELY GETS WHY SO MANY
PEOPLE ARE UPSET AND
FRUSTRATED.
FRUSTRATED. HIS OWN WIFE AND EIGHTH-GRADER
AT HOME ARE SITTING IN THE COLD
AS WELL.
AS WELL.
AS WELL. THAT DOES NOT MAKE ANYTHING
BETTER, BUT IT SHOWS THAT HE
AND HIS FAMILY ARE GOING
THROUGH IT AS WELL.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS
THAT WE TALKED ABOUT.
MEXICO IS ONLY PROVIDING A HAIR
OF POWER.
OF POWER.
OF POWER. THEY CAN ONLY GIVE US 450
MEGAWATTS.
MEGAWATTS. THERE ARE THREE GRIDS IN THE
U.S. EAST COAST, WEST COAST,
AND TEXAS HAS ITS OWN GRID IN
THE MIDDLE.
THE MIDDLE. TEXAS IS NOT TIED INTO THE WEST
COAST GRID AND RIGHT NOW TEXAS
CANNOT GET ANY POWER FROM THE
EAST COAST GRID BECAUSE THEY
ARE GOING THROUGH THEIR OWN
OUTAGES THERE.
OUTAGES THERE. IN A SENSE, WE ARE KIND OF ON
AN ISLAND RIGHT HERE.
IT HAS HELPED PEOPLE IN THE
PAST BUT IT IS NOT HELPING
RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT NOW. THE LAST THING TO POINT OUT.
I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT SPECIFICS.
STATEWIDE THERE ARE 680 POWER
GENERATION PLANTS, NATURAL GAS
PLANTS, WIND TURBINE FARMS,
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS.
70 TO 80 OF THEM, ABOUT 10% ARE
PHYSICALLY OFF-LINE RIGHT NOW.
THEY ARE PHYSICALLY NOT WORKING
FOR REASONS THAT WE STATED LAST
NIGHT.
NIGHT.
NIGHT. THAT IS BECAUSE THESE POWER
PLANTS THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE
GETTING READY FOR THE STORM AND
MADE AN EFFORT TO GET READY FOR
THE STORM BUT THEY DID NOT
PROPERLY WINTERIZE THEIR
EQUIPMENT.
EQUIPMENT. THEIR EQUIPMENT HAS FROZEN AND
THAT'S WHY THEY ARE SAYING THAT
THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE
WITHOUT POWER.
WITHOUT POWER. SO THEY COULD NOT GIVE ME A
PREDICTION FOR WHEN IT WOULD
COME BACK ON.
>> I KNOW THAT WE WILL PROBABLY
TALK WITH YOU AGAIN.
WORK AND PEOPLE GET MORE
DETAILS FROM YOUR INTERVIEW.
>> YOU ARE MY FIRST CALL WHEN I
GOT OFF-LINE WITH HIM.
AS SOON AS I GET OFF WITH YOU,
I WILL PUT THIS INTO A WEB
STORY THAT YOU CAN FIND ON
WFAA.COM.
WFAA.COM.
WFAA.COM. YOU CAN HEAR THE QUESTIONS I
ASKED AND HIS EXACT STATEMENTS
WORD FOR WORD.
WE HOPE TO HAVE THAT PUBLISHED
AROUND LUNCH TIME.
>> WE APPRECIATE THAT.
THANK YOU FOR THAT.
>>> TEAM COVERAGE FOR THE
OUTAGES AND STORM HEADED OUR
WAY CONTINUES AT MIDDAY.
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