Austin Energy Faces Power Outages Amid Record Heat

More than 5,600 Austin Energy customers experienced power outages Thursday night, marking the second consecutive day of widespread outages amid record-high temperatures.

By 9:30 p.m., the number of outages had been reduced to about 2,000, according to Austin Energy’s outage map. The power is estimated to be restored by 9:50 p.m.

The outages primarily affected customers in two areas of Southwest Austin — one near Southwest Parkway and Barton Creek Boulevard, and the other south of U.S. 290 and east of RM 1826.

The cause of the outage is under investigation, according to the outage map. The electric utility stated that the Wednesday outages, which impacted more than 7,000 customers, were a “local issue” and not related to the statewide electric grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

An Austin Energy spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Temperatures in Austin reached as high as 107 degrees on Thursday, breaking a record high for the date at Austin Camp Mabry, according to the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio. Temperatures had reached 109 degrees on Wednesday, the weather service reported.

For more information, see the National Weather Service tweet.