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Gov. Greg Abbott holds news conference on state's response to severe winter weather
Governor Greg Abbott and the heads of several state agencies held a briefing on what is being done across the state to in response to the severe winter weather across the state.
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas governor Greg Abbott and other state officials held a briefing Tuesday morning on how the state is responding to the severe winter weather across the state.
Most of the news conference was spent talking about the power grid.
"The power grid is functioning just fine," Gov. Abbott said.
While there are some power outages across the state, officials say they are local outages being dealt with by local utilities.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s power grid operator, says no emergency conditions are expected to be issued and at this time they believe there will not be any requests for conservation.
"The reforms put in place are working," said Public Utility Commission chairman Peter Lake.
ERCOT predicts the highest demand for energy will be around 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Texas Railroad Commission says the natural gas supply in the state is also holding steady.
Governor Abbott also urged Texans to be careful on the roadways.
Winter Storm Warning for North Texas extended until Thursday
On Monday, the governor escalated the State Operations Center's readiness level to Level II.
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North Texas shoppers flock to stores for heaters, firewood as icy weather moves in
North Texas shoppers flooded hardware stores and garden centers to battle the icy weather across the Metroplex this week.
Several state agencies were also mobilized.
- TxDOT: Winter weather roadway equipment and crews pre-treating and treating roadways, including roadway condition monitoring
- TDEM: State Mass Care Coordination personnel working with local partners to update warming center maps; Communications Coordination Group is engaging with telecommunications partners
- Texas National Guard: Four-wheel drive vehicles and personnel responding to support stranded motorists
- Texas A&M Forest Service: Motor graders and personnel to assist with snow/ice clearance and saw crews to assist with removal of downed trees
- PUC: Power outage monitoring and coordination with utility providers
- RRC: Monitoring of the state’s natural gas supply and communication with the oil and gas industry
- TCEQ: Personnel to monitor drinking water, wastewater, and air quality
- DPS: Personnel patrolling roadways
- DSHS: Texas Emergency Medical Task Force severe weather packages
The cold temperatures are expected to hang around across Texas through Thursday.