PRESIDIO COUNTY — At Wednesday morning’s meeting of the Presidio County Commissioners Court, County Judge Joe Portillo called for Marfans to conserve electricity in the midst of an extended cold snap. He hoped that voluntary cutbacks by individual homes and businesses could help the city avoid a dangerous blackout as overnight temperatures slump into the teens and single digits.
Portillo explained that he had been alerted by representatives for AEP, the company that delivers power to Marfa’s grid, that the Oak Street substation was operating about 40% outside of its “safe zone.” Continuing to tax the grid could result in an outage. “It’s possible that [the grid] would be down for 48 hours during the two coldest days of the year,” he said. The critical time for conservation will be between 10 p.m. and 9 a.m. through Saturday.
Marfa ISD mirrored Portillo’s call almost immediately and notified parents and staff members that school will start at 10 a.m. on Thursday and Friday to conserve electricity. By waiting a few hours for temperatures to warm, the school district can do its part to conserve electricity while keeping students safe and comfortable. Buses will run at 9:30 a.m. “Please be vigilant of the usage of power in your homes,” the district’s official reads.
Grid blackouts have become a contentious political issue in Texas after Winter Storm Uri in 2021. Lights in Presidio stayed on during blackouts that paralyzed Texas — but parts of Marfa experienced multi-day blackouts that exposed folks to dangerous winter temperatures and left them without food or water.
The judge and commissioners offered a few practical suggestions: bundling up, utilizing woodburning stoves and fireplaces where applicable and turning down thermostats and space heaters a few degrees overnight.
One source that’s not a problem for the grid is the Presidio County Courthouse, which has no central heating, and as some county officials noted Wednesday, it is brutally cold — for employees and those that come to court. A sample of the temperature by The Big Bend Sentinel at noon showed it to be hovering below 64 degrees.
Precinct 4 Commissioner David Beebe said that Marfa has an advantage in that city residents have access to natural gas services. Instead of running electric-powered central heating units, folks equipped for gas could swap out heaters temporarily until the weather warms up. “It’s something that Marfa people can do immediately if they have it in their house,” he said.
County Attorney Blair Park explained that AEP had been attempting to expand the substation to increase its capacity, but those plans had not yet come to fruition. Until then, Marfa residents will have to remain grid-conscious when colder temperatures hit.