Rotating power outages were discontinued by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) at mid-afternoon today, Wednesday, Feb. 2.

A strong possibility exists that they will be required again this evening or tomorrow, according to news release from ERCOT.

Rotating outages are controlled, temporary interruptions of electrical service initiated by each utility when supplies of reserve power are exhausted.  Without this safety valve, generators would overload and begin shutting down to avoid damage, risking a domino effect of a statewide outage.

However, some customers were without power due to winter storm conditions on Wednesday afternoon.

ERCOT emphasized that energy conservation is still critical during the peak demand hours of 6 to 10 p.m.