Texas Gas Service: An Estimated 1,200 El Paso Homes Affected By Severe Weather Outages

An estimated 1,200 El Paso homes are experiencing drastic changes in their natural gas pressure or complete outages, according to Texas Gas Service spokesman Pete Parraz.

Freezing pipes and increased usage are putting a strain on resources, which is why they’re asking customers to keep their thermostats at 66 degrees.

“Our crews are working around the clock to go ahead and restore the pressure to some of those areas,” said Parraz in a news conference with reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

Scott Carlsen, a Northeast resident, told ABC-7 his gas fireplace gave out in the morning. “My initial plan was to have the rest of the house running low on the temperature and I’d use the fireplace to heat the living room area,” he said. “Then I started noticing that the fire was getting lower and lower until it basically went out.”

Carlsen’s situation isn’t unique. City Manager Joyce Wilson said some of the hardest hit areas are in Coronado, the Lower Valley and the East side.

A spokeswoman with the Texas Gas Service said customers should contact their office once they notice sudden or drastic changes in their natural gas pressure. Technicians will then go to the home and turn off the gas valve completely.

Families with little to no natural gas pressure are advised to find another place to stay tonight since the outages could get worse as temperatutres drop even lower. The Texas Gas Service said it will contact individual customers once the gas service has been restored in their homes.

You can reach the Texas Gas Service at 1-800-700-2443 or 915-562-8411.

It’s always a good idea to make sure the pilot light is on at your home and that your carbon monoxide detector is working properly.