AUSTIN, Texas — On Saturday afternoon, Austin Energy said power had been restored to “all remaining customers who are able to safely receive power” following last week’s ice storm.
The winter storm caused widespread damage to trees and power lines from significant icing due to freezing rain. Hundreds of thousands of Central Texans lost power during the storm, and many went without power for several days amid freezing temperatures.
As of Saturday at 4:15 p.m., more than 99.9% of Austin Energy customers had power, with 45 outages affecting 150 customers. Austin Energy said the remaining customers have damage on customer-owned equipment that needs a licensed electrician to repair.
According to Austin Energy’s outage map, outages that remain are spread throughout the Austin area, with many affecting individual customers.
But the utility provider said outages currently on the map are not directly related to the storm.
Austin Energy said future outages could be the result of several factors, including vehicle crashes, animal interference, construction incidents or high winds bringing down already compromised tree limbs.
Austin Energy has set up a reconnect team to work directly with customers who need electrician repairs to help them through the reconnect process. That will allow Austin Energy to safely reconnect power to their property, the power provider said in a release.
Customers with questions about reconnection or who want to check on their reconnect status are asked to call 512-322-9100 or visit austinenergy.com/go/restoration.
“We know the storm’s aftermath has been difficult for customers, and we are grateful for the resilience of our community,” said Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent. “We are also thankful to the hundreds of mutual aid crew members, working side by side with our field teams, as part of the largest restoration operation in Austin Energy’s history.”
The announcement comes one day before the estimated date of Sunday, Feb. 12, when Austin Energy projected crews would finish full restoration of outages from the winter storm.
Representatives said outages that remained this week were the most complicated to fix, involving more time-consuming repairs to damage caused by fallen trees and equipment during the ice storm.