{"id":52947,"date":"2021-02-17T07:12:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T11:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=52947"},"modified":"2021-02-17T07:13:17","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T11:13:17","slug":"why-did-austin-downtown-stay-fully-lit-up-when-the-rest-of-the-city-was-plunged-into-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=52947","title":{"rendered":"<b><i>Why did Austin downtown stay fully lit up when the rest of the city was plunged into darkness?<\/i><\/b>"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Downtown Austin glowed bright while thousands went without power. It&#8217;s &#8216;complicated,&#8217; Austin Energy says.<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->Amanda O&#8217;Donnell<br \/>\nAustin American-Statesman<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"STATESMAN-Embed Player\" width=\"540\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/uw-media.statesman.com\/embed\/video\/6774132002?placement=snow-embed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:<\/strong>\u00a0The Statesman is making this story about Austin winter weather free for everyone to read as a public service. If you don&#8217;t already, please subscribe today at statesman.com\/subscribenow.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">While hundreds of thousands of Austin homes were without power Monday night amid outages mandated by Texas grid operators, the downtown area remained glaringly alight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">&#8216;Basically we&#8217;re stuck here&#8217;:<\/strong><a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/story\/news\/2021\/02\/15\/austin-power-outage-40-without-power-amid-austin-energys-rolling-blackouts\/6752667002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">40% of Austin Energy homes without power amid failed &#8216;rotating blackouts&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Many shared photos of the area on social media asking why presumably empty office buildings were kept lit despite mandates from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conserve and cut power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">One image shows a firm divide in power between downtown and East Austin,\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.statesman.com\/news\/economic-mobility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">the\u00a0city&#8217;s historically Black and Hispanic neighborhood<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_tw\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadTwitter\" data-v-id=\"1361492348522348548\" aria-label=\"Twitter Embed\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=statesman&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1361492348522348548&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesman.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2021%2F02%2F16%2Faustin-power-outage-why-downtown-exempt-lit-ercot%2F6763026002%2F&amp;siteScreenName=statesman&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1361492348522348548\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_tw\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadTwitter\" data-v-id=\"1361505736749166594\" aria-label=\"Twitter Embed\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=statesman&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1361505736749166594&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesman.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2021%2F02%2F16%2Faustin-power-outage-why-downtown-exempt-lit-ercot%2F6763026002%2F&amp;siteScreenName=statesman&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1361505736749166594\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Austin Energy released a statement on downtown&#8217;s exclusion from the outages on Tuesday saying:<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>&#8220;This is a complicated, inter-connected network which includes critical buildings like the Dell Seton Medical Center, warming centers, the COVID-19 Alternate Care Site, Capitol Complex and Austin City Hall, as well as other critical infrastructure and government buildings.\u00a0Shutting down the downtown network would also cut off electricity to these critical buildings, which may also house vital communications equipment.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/02\/15\/NAAS\/1e067705-6b65-4d1d-809a-30336ae4f164-jwj_021521_Snow_01586.jpg?width=660&amp;height=433&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/02\/15\/NAAS\/1e067705-6b65-4d1d-809a-30336ae4f164-jwj_021521_Snow_01586.jpg?width=1320&amp;height=866&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" alt=\"Congress Avenue is covered in snow on Monday February 15, 2021. \" data-g-r=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"Congress Avenue is covered in snow on Monday February 15, 2021. \" data-c-credit=\"Jay Janner \/ American-Statesman\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The company ended the statement saying\u00a0it will be looking for additional ways to conserve power in the downtown area moving forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The\u00a0Downtown Austin Alliance also made a request of downtown buildings and residents in an email Tuesday morning asking them to, &#8220;Please turn off all nonessential electrical uses \u2013 including building lights, especially exterior ones.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_tw\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadTwitter\" data-v-id=\"1361708470047830018\" aria-label=\"Twitter Embed\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-2\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=statesman&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-2&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1361708470047830018&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesman.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2021%2F02%2F16%2Faustin-power-outage-why-downtown-exempt-lit-ercot%2F6763026002%2F&amp;siteScreenName=statesman&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1361708470047830018\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The group reportedly reached out to owners of more than 50 of the area&#8217;s largest buildings to urge conservation\u00a0and is in the process of contacting hundreds more, the\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/story\/news\/2021\/02\/16\/austin-energy-shuts-power-off-samsung-other-major-users\/6771267002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">American-Statesman&#8217;s Phil Jankowski reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Many across the city are looking at another night without power, and Austin Energy says any further mandates from ERCOT could lead to cutting circuits powering what the company considers &#8220;critical infrastructure&#8221; \u2013 like the downtown area. Austin Energy refused to\u00a0release information for a map of the city indicating grids that fall under this designation when asked by American-Statesman reporters Tuesday.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"~ad-slot-7103-tx-austin-C6763-native-article_link-news-2\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">Your guide:<\/strong><a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/story\/news\/2021\/02\/16\/austin-power-outage-snow-winter-weather-advisory-texas-cold-austin-american-statesman-guide\/6764069002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">Everything you need to know about Texas&#8217; winter storm, power crisis<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Some of the\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/story\/news\/2021\/02\/16\/austin-energy-shuts-power-off-samsung-other-major-users\/6771267002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">company&#8217;s biggest industrial customers<\/a>, including\u00a0Samsung, NXP Semiconductors and Infineon Semiconductors, had their power completely shut down late Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Across the state,\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/story\/news\/2021\/02\/16\/texas-power-outage-impacts-millions-amid-winter-storm\/6763521002\/?utm_source=SND&amp;utm_medium=Twitter&amp;utm_campaign=statesman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">millions of Texans continue to go without power<\/a>\u00a0and ERCOT operators declined to say when they expect operations to return to normal during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/story\/news\/2021\/02\/16\/austin-power-outage-why-downtown-exempt-lit-ercot\/6763026002\/\">https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/story\/news\/2021\/02\/16\/austin-power-outage-why-downtown-exempt-lit-ercot\/6763026002\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Downtown Austin glowed bright while thousands went without power. It&#8217;s &#8216;complicated,&#8217; Austin Energy says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}