Council shone a light on residents who may have found themselves in the dark recently about power outages across the city.

Representatives from Texas New Mexico Power Company and Oncor appeared before councilmembers during the regular meeting held Monday, April 11.

According to a presentation given by Jessica Craft, a Texas New Mexico Power representative, the company serves over 7,000 homes and businesses in Princeton. It also has 122 miles of overhead lines and 55 miles in underground lines.

There has also been $4.9 million invested in increasing reliability of electrical service which includes replacing older infrastructure to keep it functioning properly, said Craft.

Mayor Brianna Chacon asked the representative if it would be possible to improve communications with the city regarding outages so residents can be more informed about ongoing outages. Craft responded saying it was attainable, adding one of the recent outages was caused by a Texas New Mexico Power equipment failure which the company was able to repair.

Steven Elk from Oncor also appeared before council and spoke about the growth’s impact on the electric grid. Unlike Texas New Mexico Power, Oncor only delivers electricity by contracting with electricity providers.

“We are acutely aware of the growth going on in Princeton,” Elk said. “We have a group that looks at the long-term growth going on in our communities.”

For the full story, see the April 14 issue of The Princeton Herald.