About 7,000 customers in East Austin will be without power until at least 9 p.m. Wednesday, Matt Mitchell, a spokesman for Austin Energy, told the American-Statesman.
Most city cooling centers will remain open until 9 p.m. Wednesday, Mitchell said. Information on city cooling center locations can be found here.
According to a 7:54 p.m. post on X by Austin Energy’s municipal utility, crews are working to determine the cause of the East Austin power outage. The problem is local, not a statewide grid issue. The statewide power grid is operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
“We are working to find the cause of the problem and restore power to as many customers as possible as quickly as possible,” the energy supplier said in a press release.
The power outages began shortly before 5 p.m., when temperatures in the neighborhood reached the highest levels of the year at 41.6 degrees.
The expected return time was initially given as 6:30 p.m., but was then postponed to 8:00 p.m. and later to 9:00 p.m.
The areas most affected are east of Interstate 35 and west of Airport Boulevard, south to South Lake Shore Boulevard and north to East 11th Street.
Mitchell said the cause of the outages is currently unknown.
This is a developing story, please check back later for updates.
