OFF THE GRID: United States and Orange County, Texas Power Outage Tracker (2024)

FAQs

How do I check the status of my power outage in Texas? ›

You can report a power outage or check the status of a previously reported power outage via our online reporting tool. You can also call us at 888.313. 4747. If you have signed up for My Oncor Alerts, text OUT to 66267 (ONCOR).

Please call us at 1-800-611-1911 so we can assist you. If you received a notification from us about an outage in your area, enter your Outage Number above. You can find it on your notification. With a bit more information, we can help you retrieve more accurate outage data for your location.

Report an Outage

Stay at least 35 feet away and call 713-207-2222.

As the USDA notes in Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency, your refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours during a power outage. Keep the door closed as much as possible. Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers after 4 hours without power.

The duration of a power outage depends on its cause and the extent of damage to the electrical infrastructure. On average, most technical or minor outages in the USA last about 1-2 hours.

Turn the power in the circuit off, selecting it on the electrical panel with the circuit breaker. Verify that the power is off by placing the voltmeter on the two output points at the bottom of the circuit breaker. The voltmeter will show that there is no voltage if the light does not light up.

And in Austin, more than 170,000 lost power after a damaging ice storm swept across Central Texas in 2023. These all came on the heels of a different, deadly grid problem. A winter storm in 2021 infamously plunged millions across the state into cold darkness because there wasn't enough power generation to meet demand.

As mentioned earlier, Louisiana is a hurricane and tornado-prone state. This may be why Louisiana has the longest average annual power outages of any state, with an annual average of more than a full day without power (24 hours and 54 minutes), which is four times the national average of 6 hours.

Is Texas the only state with its own power grid? ›

Texas is not only rich in natural resources needed to produce energy, but it is also the only U.S. state to have its own electric grid. In 1935, the Federal Power Act was passed and gave the federal government the authority to regulate interstate transactions of electricity.

Or you may also reach us at 877.373. 4858.

One of the main differences between Reliant and CenterPoint Energy is that Reliant is a retail electric provider that sells electricity to customers, while CenterPoint Energy is a regulated electric transmission and distribution company that is responsible for maintaining and operating the electric transmission and ...

Turn on your multimeter and set it to VDC (Volts DC).

If you don't have a power supply tester, you can use a multimeter to check the voltage of your power supply. If your multimeter does not have an auto-range feature, set it to 10.00V.

Use a receptacle voltage tester by plugging the device into the outlet. The lights on the device will come on to indicate the presence of a live electrical current. Test an electrical outlet with a non-contact voltage tester by holding the tester about an inch away from the short slot on the outlet.

Depending on the amount of water remaining in the pipes, you might be able to flush your toilet several times while the power is out. Eventually, however, your tank won't fill up anymore because the pumps are down. When this happens, you will need to flush your toilet manually by pouring in a bucket of water.