HOUSTON — Gas outages in communities northwest of Houston have left some in the cold after record-low temperatures in Southeast Texas on Tuesday.
EPCOR said on its website that crews were responding to outages in Indigo Ranch, High Meadow Ranch, and Magnolia. The company later posted on Facebook.
"As of 1:45 p.m. EPCOR crews have identified and corrected the low pressure issue in the pipeline main. Regular service is expected to resume over the next few hours. We ask customers to reach out to our Customer Care team should they have any issues getting their homes or appliances back online: 1-800-838-0834 or myepcorgas@epcor.com."
Earlier Tuesday, KHOU 11 reached out because about 100 homes in the area were without natural gas or with little pressure to get gas into their homes.
“This morning we woke up, it’s about 50 degrees in the house so pretty cold, we got a space heater but that doesn’t do much so we’re just bundling up,” Keith Chalfant told KHOU 11 News.
Residents Lisa and Brad Bodway said they spent most of the Monday and Tuesday without heat in their home.
"But it's aggravating because we pay all this money for gas and electricity and a little cold snap like this and here we are without heat, so, inconvenient and aggravating," Lisa Bodway said.
Another resident in the area shared an email that shed some light on the issue. One of the pipelines in the area is having pressure issues, causing little to no gas being supplied to many homes in this area, according to the email.
That email mentions that EPCOR had to get an emergency order from a county judge to do the work necessary to repair that pipeline.
The outage comes as an Arctic blast hits the Houston area bringing freezing temperatures to most of Southeast Texas.
A Hard Freeze Warning is in effect for the area until Wednesday morning.
EPCOR released a statement late Tuesday morning:
“On the morning of Jan. 15, EPCOR began receiving calls regarding outages to the Indigo Ranch and High Meadows neighborhoods. There are approximately 100 homes without natural gas service and EPCOR crews continue working around the clock to safely restore services.
“Service was disrupted due to a loss of pressure in service main line. EPCOR crews have narrowed their search to an approximately 700 foot span of main line near a road crossing as the root of the loss of pressure. To increase pressure and to more quickly restore service to customers, EPCOR is collaborating with the Railroad Commission and other natural gas vendors.
“In the meantime, EPCOR asks customers in the surrounding area to minimize their use of non-essential gas appliances and to report any outages. EPCOR’s customer care team can be reached at 1-800-383-0834 or myepcorgas@epcor.com.”