Strong winds cause exploding transformers, power outages around Houston area

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The strong winds overnight led to exploding transformers and power outages across town.

We caught several explosions from our Tower Cam HD above the ABC13 studios in southwest Houston. You'll need to watch out for intersections that do not have lights because of power outages.

CenterPoint Energy reports just under 14,000 homes and businesses are without power as of 9:45am. That's down from a peak of close to 61,000 at around 3am.

Those outages are scattered from southeast Houston to The Woodlands.

Meteorologist Casey Curry says wind advisories are posted across our area today. Look for widespread 40-50mph wind gusts. One wind gust was clocked in at 61 miles per hour at around 3:45 this morning in Bayou Vista.

Be careful on the roads this morning as you may run into road debris throughout your morning drive.

Some ABC13 viewers have sent us photos of the power outages and wind damage across the area. We've seen tree branches in the Heights near the North Freeway and North Main, as well as a downed tree in a neighborhood off Beechnut in southwest Harris County.

You can send your photos to news@abc13.com, but please don't put yourself in harm's way to get the shot.

Many of you are also talking about the outages from the wind on Twitter and Facebook. One of our viewers writes that electricity went out at around 4:30am in Spring. Another says the power remains out in Magnolia. There are also reports of outages on our Facebook page from Friendswood and the Gulfgate area.

We want to hear from you about conditions where you are. Post to our Facebook page or Tweet your report with the hashtag #abc13.

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Spring ISD school dismissed early due to power outage

School is out early for students at one Spring ISD middle school after a power outage this morning.

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Some middle school students have a shortened school day today due to a power outage.

According to a Spring ISD spokesperson, Dueitt Middle School released students early due to the outage. A fire alarm went off this morning before school started. It was prompted by smoke from air conditioning equipment that overheated due to the failure of the a nearby transformer.

Staff and students who were already at school were evacuated and students who were arriving at school were kept outside the building.

Centerpoint is working on the problem and hope to have it resolved by the end of the day.

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Tree trimmer rescued after limb hits power lines

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Some scary moments for a tree trimmer who had to be rescued while cutting branches outside a west Houston home.

Investigators say 43-year-old Eugene Rodgers was using a chainsaw to clear branches when a dead limb fell onto a nearby power line. The lines began popping and sparking. Houston Fire Department and CenterPoint Energy crews responded and told the man to stay put until they shut down the lines.

Once the lines were de-energized, Rodgers was safely lowered to the ground. He was not injured.

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Study focuses on electric cars' effect on power grid

AUSTIN, TX (KTRK) -- Electric cars could be the wave of the future, but as they hit the roads, they have to get their charges. And that means they'll pull power from the state's power grid.

Researchers in Austin are working to figure out what kind of strain that would put on energy resources, and here's how they're doing it.

University of Texas researcher Tuttle is what you might call an automobile enthusiast.

"I enjoy anything mechanical with a motor or engine that goes," he said.

But his latest love is maybe not what you'd expect from a car nut.

"If you enjoy driving, you'll actually enjoy an electric vehicle in terms of the driving experience," Tuttle said.

You heard him right -- an electric vehicle.

"You put your foot on the brake pedal and push the button and it powers up," he said.

Tuttle drives a Chevy Volt. But as he tools around in his 15-month-old Volt, he's not just any driver.

"Were you surprised at how quick it was when you first drove it?" we asked him.

"Yes, yes," he said.

Tuttle is also a research fellow at the University of Texas, studying how these electric cars affect energy use and how they impact the electric grid when they're in the garage charging for hours. They're biggest impact on the grid since the air conditioner.

"These are unique loads for the grid," Tuttle said.

And he's doing some the research in an Austin neighborhood that has the greatest residential concentration of electric vehicles in the country.

"It's a great car," Kathy Sokolic said.

Sokolic is one of those residents.

"I'm pretty cheap, but I like to do things that make a difference," she said.

And she's part of a unique program that monitors her energy habits, part of which include the use and charging of her all-electric Nissan Leaf.

"The Leaf is definitely a step up in luxury. It's got lots of bells and whistles, but it doesn't use any gasoline so it's fantastic," Sokolic said.

The project is called Pecan Street, and Sokolic is one of 50 drivers in the study, which hopes to answer questions about the viability of dense electric car clusters.

"If everybody comes home at 6-7pm and plugs in their car at the same time on a summer evening, what happens to the stability of your electric grid?" said Brewster McCracken with Pecan Street Inc.

It's a question that still needs answers, questions Tuttle is excited to try and help answer as he pushes the pedal on his latest passion.

"There are so many benefits from us getting to the point where we can eliminate imported oil, and if we do that by having a combination of conventional vehicles where they're needed and these new technologies, then we have the best of both worlds," Tuttle said.

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House fire takes out several power lines

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A house fire in northeast Harris County took out several power lines this morning.

The fire started at a home on Leaftex near Plumtex just before 2am.

When crews arrived, the one-story home was fully engulfed in flames. The intensity of the blaze forced firefighters to fight it from the outside.

Officials say no one was home at the time.

CenterPoint was called to the scene to handle power lines that were downed during the fire.

Arson investigators are looking into what started the blaze.

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Power outages throughout Houston

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Power outages are being reported throughout the Houston area as storms move through. CenterPoint Energy says around 9,800 customers are currently in the dark, as of 12:30pm.

Most of them are in the path of the storm, which is traveling through the city from the west.

Our Towercam HD here at the studios caught the exact moment when the lights at the businesses along Westpark went out. You can see a couple of transformers explode. It happened around 2:30am Wednesday, which was around the same time we started getting calls about strong winds.

CenterPoint says the number of customers without power went from 300 to 31,000 in a matter of minutes.

A spokesperson for Bush Intercontinental Airport says the airport experienced a brief power outage this morning along Wrght Road, near Terminal E. Fortunately, the outage was brief and operations were not interrupted and are normal for now.

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Power failure at Conoco Phillips plant

  SWEENY, TX -- Efforts to clean residue off of transmission equipment that caused a series of power outages at several Southeast Texas refineries last month might have led to another power outage at a different facility on Tuesday.

ConocoPhillips' refinery in Sweeny lost power at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, said company spokesman Rich Johnson. Power was restored by 1 p.m. "We're in the process of restarting the affected units. No injuries or offsite impact was reported. The cause of power outage still under investigation," he said. The refinery in Sweeny, located about 65 miles southwest of Houston, can process up to 247,000 barrels per day. Late last month, several refineries in Texas City, located southeast of Houston, experienced a series of power outages. The electricity provider, Texas New Mexico Power Co., said those outages were caused by salt and other residue that had built up on transmission equipment at substations and other locations, leading to short circuits. Texas New Mexico Power spokeswoman Cathy Garber said since last month's outages, the electricity provider has been cleaning the residue off of all its transmission equipment in Southeast Texas. On Tuesday, workers had finished cleaning some of this equipment at the refinery in Sweeny and were in the process of powering it back on when something went wrong, Garber said. The problem might have been on the "refinery side of things" but officials are still trying to determine what exactly caused the outage, she said. The temporary shutdown of the refinery in Sweeny prompted the facility's flare system to burn off any chemical releases that might have been sent into the air. "We are conducting air monitoring in the area to insure there was no health risk in the community," Johnson said. (Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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