Pedernales Electric says 'technical issues' caused incorrect outage reports
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Pedernales Electric that "technical issues" with the co-op's website led it to incorrectly report thousands of weekend power outages.
UPDATE: Pedernales Electric Cooperative says it did not suffer any significant power outages on Saturday or Sunday, despite the co-op's outage center reporting more than 14,000 customers in Central Texas without power at various times throughout the weekend.
On multiple occasions on Saturday, Pedernales Electric's outage center indicated there were more than 7,000 customers without power in Travis, Williamson and Hays counties, along with more than 7,000 outages in Comal County. Pedernales Electric officials did not respond Saturday to calls from the American-Statesman seeking comment on the outage reports. On Sunday, the co-op's website continued to show more than 14,000 customers without power.
However, JP Urban, Pedernales Electric's executive vice president for external affairs, told the American-Statesman on Sunday that the co-op's outage center data was incorrect, and that there were only a handful of outages in Central Texas, not thousands.
Urban provided this written statement: "It has been brought to our attention that the PEC outage map is experiencing technical issues and our staff is currently looking into it. Staff monitors our system 24/7, 365 days a year and in the event of a true outage, we are prepared to respond."
Based in Johnson City, PEC is the largest electricity co-op in the United States, serving about 378,000 meters, according to the co-op's website.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pedernales Electric says 'technical issues' caused incorrect outage reports
