Coleman Says ERCOT Wants the Whole City to Freeze

COLEMAN, TX -- Power outages have affected all of West Texas and one Texas city is saying enough. In a late-night press release, the City of Coleman condemned the decisions made by ERCOT.  The City of Coleman said it has been completely without electricity for nearly two days. 

According to officials, city crews spent all afternoon working with AEP repairing the substation and as the power company prepared to "flip the switch" to restore the power. Then, just as relief was to come to the city of 4,400 residents, ERCOT said no.

ERCOT, or the Electric Reliability Commission of Texas, governs what parts of the electrical grid can retrieve electricity. 

When the blackouts first began, the city was told they would be placed on rolling blackouts and instead what ERCOT defines as a controlled blackout was put in place with no plan to restore power. A controlled blackout means there's no immediate hope electricity will be restored soon, not even temporarily.

According to officials, neighboring communities who utilize the same substation have regained power while Coleman continues to stay in the dark. 

After negotiating an approval from AEP to have limited power turned on, the electric company once again claimed ERCOT denied the request.

"Enough is enough. Large parts of the city have been without power for 42 hours with near-zero temperatures. We all recognize that this cannot continue indefinitely," said the City of Coleman in a statement on Facebook. "We are calling every person at the state and federal level that can possibly influence the decisions of AEP and ERCOT that have led to these circumstances. One group tells us that ERCOT is to blame. The next tells us that AEP is to blame. One thing is sure. No one is giving us straight answers."

According to the forecast, temperatures in Coleman will remain right at the freezing level, 32 degrees F, until Friday, Feb. 17.