Extreme Weather Forcing Rolling Blackouts in Dallas

By Jon E. Dougherty at 2 Feb 2011

(Newsroom America) -- Extreme cold weather in the wake of Tuesday's massive winter storm that struck much of the nation's heartland is causing unusual power spikes in Texas, leading the state's grid manager to order rolling blackouts.

The local NBC affiliate in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas issued an order for the rolling blackouts to the state's utilities, with outages expected to last from 10-45 minutes.

The controlled blackouts are aimed at relieving stress on the power grid, the affiliate said on its Web site.

"The locations and durations of the outages are determined by the local carrier. Critical need customers such as hospitals and nursing homes are generally not included," said NBCDFW.

The city of Dallas requested that Hall and the Dallas Convention Center, which is hosting an NFL event prior to the Super Bowl, which is scheduled for Sunday at nearby Cowboys Stadium.

Officials have also issued warnings to drivers to be on the look out for ice but also to be mindful that rolling blackouts will affect some of the city's traffic lights.

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