For 7,000 Austin Energy customers in East Austin, power restored after about four hours - Austin American-Statesman

Austin Energy outages affected about 7,000 on one of the year's hottest days

For 7,000 Austin Energy customers in East Austin, power restored after about four hours
Ella McCarthy Emiliano Tahui Gómez

The power outage that affected more than 7,000 East Austin customers on one of the hottest days of the year was resolved at around 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to Austin Energy spokesperson Matt Mitchell.

The outage began shortly before 5 p.m., when temperatures in the neighborhood reached 107 degrees. The areas primarily affected were east of Interstate 35 and as far west as Airport Boulevard, stretching as far south as South Lakeshore Boulevard and as far north as East 11th Street.

In a post on X, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said Austin Energy officials had "confirmed" that the outage was caused by "high energy usage causing substation equipment to trip offline."

Mitchell confirmed this to the American-Statesman. The agency said earlier in the evening on X that the issue was local and not related to the statewide grid. The statewide electric grid is operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Due to the outage, the city's cooling centers were kept open late. Those at the Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center and the Pan Am Recreation Center will be open until 11 p.m. for those needing it, Mitchell said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.