I'm watching the City of Austin press conference: Judge An…

.@austinenergy : we are starting to get more power and are prioritizing turning on the power for people who have been without power the longest. if we can sustain this level, we can do true rotating blackouts

.@austinenergy : we have crews out in the community trying to fix things, but they are having people screaming at them and throwing things at them. Jacquie Sargent asks that people let them do their jobs and not harass them.

.@AustinWater : we ask that you DO NOT drip your faucets, stop using laundry machines, dishwashers, and if you know how to take care of a burst pipe please do.

City Manager Spencer Cronk: We know this is frustrating and I'm sorry this is happening. We have shelters open.

(Here is a list of the various shelters, some are for warming, some are for staying the night

https://t.co/wOKkumvdok)

.@MayorAdler : I know people are scared, frustrated and confused. 5 mill people in TX without power is a huge failure of the grid and the management of power in the state. We weren't ready for a sustained storm like this, but we need to be

@MayorAdler .@MayorAdler : we might not get power back on until things thaw, which isn't until Friday.

Today we need to talk about water. We are using 300 million gallons on water, which is more than we've ever seen. We need to not use major appliances and not run water.

@MayorAdler .@MayorAdler : we know we told you to drip faucets, and that was the right advice before today. Now, we are asking you to shift gears and conserve water.

We are also calling for volunteers. The city's website has a form you can fill out if you are able to help

@MayorAdler .@MayorAdler : if you have power, act like you don't. if you got power back on, don't count on it staying long term.

@MayorAdler Q AND TIME. now we get to the good stuff

@MayorAdler Q: Why were other power companies in central TX able to do rotating blackouts and Austin Energy couldn't?

A: Austin has more areas that include hospitals and critical areas, that needed power to stay on. We maxed out and had no ability to rotate because nobody could be cut

@MayorAdler Q: what can Austin Energy customers expect in terms of their upcoming bill?

A: I can't give you what the impact is right now because we buy energy from @ERCOT_ISO. But there will be impacts.

@MayorAdler @ERCOT_ISO Q: why can't shutdowns be more granular, like block by block?

A: we have to shut off large blocks of power and can't shut off meters one by one. We don't have technology to do that.

@MayorAdler @ERCOT_ISO .@AustinWater : we are having water main breaks. it's hard to see them because of the snow and the ice is preventing us from traveling as fast as we need.

One main break was in Circle C, which is why SW Austin is struggling with water today.

@MayorAdler @ERCOT_ISO @AustinWater How to boil water without electricity:

@AustinWater : If you have gas you can boil that way. But if you have an electric stove, you'll need bottled water or other liquids to do this.

That's all folks.