Texas implements rolling blackouts as state hit with most extreme snow & ice in years (VIDEOS)

Many Texans have been left without power as the state is being hit with freezing temperatures and extreme snow and ice. Rolling blackouts have been implemented to help conserve an exhausted grid.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) called an “energy emergency alert three” early Monday, which includes rolling outages for not only homes, but businesses and city infrastructure. ERCOT warned residents that even traffic lights could be down during the blackouts.

“Extreme weather conditions caused many generating units – across fuel types – to trip offline and become unavailable,” the company said in a statement, urging energy conservation as the power grid has become more and more strained. Energy use has been at record levels in the state as they, as well as the central US, are facing unusually cold weather.

These rolling blackouts reportedly last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. 

More than two million homes were reported to be without power in the state on Monday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

The last time rolling outages were implemented in Texas was during a massive storm in February 2011.

Video out of Texas has shown the state blanketed with snow and some roadways dangerously covered in ice. For the first time ever, every county in the state was under a winter storm warning going into Sunday evening.

Road conditions have left many roads impassable and led to numerous crashes, especially on highways. Unlike states that are used to colder weather and heavy snowfall, Texas is facing an unusual emergency as much of the state does not have the resources to handle extreme winter conditions, leaving roads slick and icy, and many homes not insulated enough.

Footage of multiple highway crashes have hit social media with interstate roads either covered in snow or ice. Residents are being urged by local officials to stay home and not travel. 

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