‘Frustrating': Repeat power outages disrupt life for homeowners, school district

Residents living north of Krum along the Denton and Wise County line say they have been dealing with persistent power outages since the start of the year.

Shawna Seale and her neighbors enjoy their quiet country living, but for the last eight months, it’s been interrupted by power outages.

“Consistent power outages – excessive and many of them lasting hours and hours,” said Seale.

She and her neighbors provided NBC 5 with lengthy text chains and alerts from Oncor detailing the outages.

Some have lasted an hour, others up to 12 hours.

They’ve been given various reasons for the outages.

“Many different things from vegetation to the wind to old equipment,” Seale said.

She worries about elderly neighbors and those with health conditions.

Neighbor Tara Hall lives with medical devices and a CPAP machine.

“It all turns off when we lose power,” Hall said.

Most of the farms and ranches in the area rely on well water, so when the power goes out, so does their ability to draw water.

“We gotta stockpile water because even on days like today when it’s beautiful and there’s no problem, no storms or anything, we’ll just intermittently lose power for four or five hours,” said neighbor Kelley Cato.

“[It’s] so frustrating,” Cato said. “And they don’t make it a priority to get it fixed and it goes on and on and on.”

The issue is not just affecting homes; it’s disrupting class for the 500 students at Slidell ISD.

Outages forced the district to cancel classes last spring and the superintendent says power surges are testing A/C units and patience.

“It’s placed us in a really bad situation,” said Superintendent Dr. Chris Heskett. “We need Oncor to be more responsive.”

NBC 5 reached out to Oncor and received the following statement:

“Oncor is aware of the recent repeat outages in this area and we recognize the frustration and difficulties those outages have caused our local customers. In July, we completed a review of our nearby facilities, and reliability improvement efforts identified in that review are currently underway. Current work includes trimming trees or vegetation near the power lines that serve this area and replacing multiple poles. We expect these projects will help enhance service reliability within Krum and Slidell, and appreciate our customers’ patience as this work continues.”

Oncor added that the work will continue through September, weather permitting.

Earlier this month, neighbors filed informal complaints with the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

The agency told NBC 5 their consumer protection staff closed the first complaint after determining Oncor was in compliance with rules which require utilities to “make all reasonable efforts to prevent interruptions of service and reestablish service within the shortest possible time when outages do occur.”

A spokesperson added that Oncor told PUCT staff it is implementing improvements, including upgrading equipment and establishing backup power options.

A second complaint remains active and staff is looking into the issue, the PUCT spokesperson said.  

Shawna and her neighbors hope speaking out gets the problem fixed. They’re hoping to recoup the cost of lost groceries and appliances by filing a claim with Oncor.

“Obviously, we’d like this to stop. It’s not just a nuisance, but it’s dangerous,” Seale said.

The PUCT encourages customers to work to resolve issues with their utility provider, but if they are unable to, they can contact the PUCT’s Consumer Protection Division at 512-936-7120 or consumer@puc.texas.gov.